Instantly it Changed
by Eccia
Summary: When Veronica dies in a car accident, her daughter's world is turned upside down and things will never be the same again. And who is her father?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So, this story is kind of a lot different from my other one. Timeline is about sixteen years after graduation... so... nineteen years after the show left off. Uh... so here's my deal about future writing, I am in no way a psychic, so my "future" will be set in more of a present day setting... aka, I'm not going to make up crazy futuristic technology or fashion trends or celebrities etc, it will be like now, just with a different date. I think that helps avoid confusion as well and those details arent super relevant to the scope of the story line. That's really my only important notice for reading this.

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Chapter One: With No Other Options Available

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The blonde sat in the courtroom, kicking the leg of the table in front of her, arms crossed on her chest, not that she had much of a chest to mention, and an annoyed look across her face. Compared to all of the suits in the room, she was drastically underdressed, but that thought was probably the furthest thing from her mind. All of these people claimed to care about her and her well being; yet, she didn't feel like a single one of them was listening to her.

The judge looked between the people in the room, many of whom she didn't know herself very well. The woman next to her was the social worker assigned to her case, Miss Farley or something. Next to Miss Farley was one of the girl's least liked people: Agent Weiner… err… Agent Warner, but he was more of a wiener in her opinion. In front of her was the lawyer on her "team" making his case. She had zoned out twenty minutes ago and had lost track of what he actually wanted for her.

On the other side of the courtroom were her Uncle Wallace and his wife Jackie. They were making the case for her to live with them. She had maybe seen them twice a year since she was six. Next to them was a lawyer, a tall man in a dark suit with greased back hair. He was young and sharp, but the girl could tell the judge was not impressed by his act.

In the back of the court room sat her Aunt Mac and Uncle Dick. She could probably count on one hand the number of times she'd actually seen them. They lived clear across the country and had three kids. They had lives. It was certainly understandable.

Their three kids sat with Uncle Wallace and Aunt Jackie's younger daughter; her son was old enough to be on his own. The four really didn't have an interest in the actions at the front of the court room. In fact, they showed no interest in being there at all.

"The court is going to take a fifteen minute recess at which point I would like to see Linley Mars in my chambers, please," the judge said and the bailiff dismissed the occupants before leading the teenager back.

She took a seat in one of the large chairs in his office, not really caring what the old man had to say. Linley just wanted it to be over. "Linley?" the judge asked, focusing her attention on him. Her eyes narrowed and he continued, "Where do you want to live? Do you want to live with Mr. and Mrs. Fennell in New York? Or would you prefer to stay here, in D.C. in a foster home? Or…" he looked through the case files, seeing if there was a third option.

"I don't care," she interrupted. Honestly, she really didn't. Wherever she was sent, she would be living with strangers, she knew that much. "What did my mom say, in her will… what did she want for me?" Linley asked, sitting forward. Maybe that would help her decide.

The judge shuffled through the papers and found the one she requested, "Your mother requested that you live with her father in Neptune, California. It appears that she hadn't gotten around to updating her will, seeing as how Mr. Mars passed away last year."

Right. Grandpa Keith died last year and her mother had flown to California for two days to attend the funeral. She had barely known the man, only seeing him on his few trips to D.C. and never in California. "Yeah, my mom was so upset; they were close, her and grandpa. I guess they're together again now, huh," she said, sadly.

"Linley, I need an answer from you. I want to give you what you want, but you need to tell me what that is," the judge sighed. These cases were always hard. The poor girl had no family left and she needed to decide where she was going to live; who was going to take care of her and most important, who was going to be making the decisions in her life.

She sat, thinking of her options. Without her mom, she really had no reason to stay in D.C. Then again, there really wasn't anything in New York for her with Uncle Wallace. He felt obligated because he hadn't been the best friend to her lately. That was probably the same reason Aunt Mac found herself in the back of the courtroom. "I'll take New York, I guess," she said finally.

With court back in session, the judge ruled in favor of the Fennells and Linley packed her stuff to move to New York, knowing she would probably never set foot in the apartment she called home for the first sixteen years of her life ever again. Though, in her defense, she didn't need much. Most of it was just stuff, though other things were harder to part with.

Wallace looked around the living room of the small apartment while Linley packed her room. He noticed all of the pictures of his best friend and her little girl through the years and felt a pang of sadness shoot through him. He should have been a better friend, but time and space had caused them to grow apart. Jackie sat on the couch, waiting for the girl to be finished. "Wallace, why don't you come sit? Your pacing is making me nervous," she said, light as air.

Linley dropped her duffel into the middle of the floor, packed full of some of her most important possessions and most of her clothing. "I'm going to go and see what of my mom's stuff I want," she announced and point to the door of her mother's room. It was weird to be in there without her mom; like she was snooping but knew she wasn't going to get caught.

Wallace continued to look around the place like he had never been there before. "Wallace, please," Jackie insisted and finally Wallace complied, sitting next to his wife. It seemed to relax her, but it made him more uncomfortable. He didn't like feeling useless, but when it came to his best friend, Wallace was painfully aware how many times she had kept him on the sidelines.

In the bedroom, Linley went through her mother's things, searching for the important things. First, she grabbed her mother's camera, knowing that was probably the most expensive thing in the apartment and gently placed it inside of its bag before placing that bag inside the suitcase she was packing. She worried little of making a mess and shoved the clothes aside to get to the safe in the back of the closet.

It took her a few tries to open it, but once she did, Linley packed all of the contents, wrapping certain things inside of clothing to protect them in the journey. She would have plenty of time later to go through it all. Next, she packed the photo albums from the top of the closet, wanting to keep all of their memories together. Satisfied, she left the room and put the suitcase next to her duffel.

"Are you ready to go?" Jackie asked, noticing the girl coming out of the bedroom with a suitcase. It was a shame really. Jackie had never really minded Veronica and knew she was important to Wallace, but she never dreamed of taking in her daughter.

Linley looked around one last time, and said nothing, grabbing a few of the frames that Wallace had been looking at earlier and stuffed them into her backpack. The girl sitting on the chair in the living room watched her with her eyes, but Linley paid no attention. Instead, she moved on to the kitchen to collect a few things before deciding she was ready to leave the apartment for the last time.

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A/N: Little tidbit, I originally started this story in about six different spots, but I liked this one the best because I can still play around with some of the events that happened prior to this. Let me know your thoughts in the box below. Update coming soon.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Chapter Two! Thanks for all of your love, especially those of you who followed me from my last story. Yeah, this isn't the one I was talking about writing before, this just kind of came to me. Also, I'm sorry to all of the Jackie fans out there... this may be a little OOC but I just saw it in my head going down like this. I know we had a lot of character development with her at the end, but I guess maybe I'm choosing to ignore that? I guess maybe.

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Chapter 2: New York City

After three weeks of living with Uncle Wallace and several counseling sessions later, Linley was actually starting to lose her mind. Although she didn't particularly like school in D.C., she especially did not like school in New York.

Linley sat at the dinner table and pushed the food around her plate, not really eating anything. "I know you're hungry," Wallace said, causing her to look at him, "Your mother could put away food unlike anyone else I have ever met; even with only half of her genes, you should be starving." While she appreciated his attempt at a joke, she made no outward signs of it and resumed pushing her food around the plate.

She continued to do so until Jackie snapped and took the plate off of her, obviously insulted that the girl refused to eat her cooking. Wallace stood and followed his wife into the kitchen to calm her. "Jackie…" he started, and she brushed him off, "she just lost her mother, she's hurting. I'm sure it has nothing to do with your cooking."

"She's ungrateful and rude," Jackie whisper-yelled back, not wanting either girl to hear their conversation, "after we so graciously took her in and she sits around here ignoring everyone; I can't do this anymore, Wallace."

Unfortunately, both girls could hear the conversation. It didn't take a genius to figure out that as much as Jackie didn't want Linley there, Linley did not want to be there. Most days she woke up hoping it was all a terrible nightmare and that her mother was still alive and they were still living in their crappy D.C. apartment ordering delivery from Charley's Chinese, which served a lot more than just Chinese. Their favorites were always the Italian dishes and cheeseburgers.

At night, instead of sleeping, Linley went through all of the files on her mother's laptop and external hard drive. Most of it was pictures and home movies of her when she was younger, which would often relax her enough to fall asleep watching them, hearing her mother's voice. However, those nights were usually followed by rough mornings and she knew it wasn't the best way to move on.

With each passing day, the relationship between Linley and Jackie became more strained. Thus, Linley's nightly research took a more directed approach: finding a new place to live. On that particular evening, having gotten nowhere with the laptop, she opened a box she didn't remember packing and found an interesting collection of items inside. There was a flash drive on a silver chain, a key chain with several neatly labeled keys attached, a small velvet covered ring box, and an old cell phone with its charger wrapped around it. She organized these items around herself neatly before moving the box out of the way.

Winning out as the most interesting item, Linley picked up the ring box first and opened it, her eyes widening at the ring it contained. A diamond that big should be in a museum, not with a ring band attached to it. Carefully she removed it from the box and tried it on her finger, noting that her own slender fingers were a bit too small to wear the ring properly. Who had given such an expensive ring to her mother? More importantly, why didn't she sell it and use the money to buy a better apartment for them to live in? Clearly the piece of jewelry meant a lot to her mother if she had kept it instead of selling it to make rent.

For the moment, she put the ring back into the box it came in and tried the cell phone. Obviously all of the years had drained the battery, even in its current off state, and needed to be plugged in. Standing, she located the nearest outlet and plugged the phone in, hoping that it would spring to life.

After a few minutes of trying the power button, the phone finally lit up and Linley had to contain a squeal of delight. Naturally, it asked for a password. Anyone else and she would have assumed they were paranoid, but her mother had her reasons. She had to be careful, though, knowing that she would only be allowed a certain number of attempts before the phone permanently locked.

Linley also knew her mother wasn't stupid enough to have a document anywhere containing her passwords and access codes. She never used birthdays or anniversaries, numbers from addresses or anything with any sort of significance. Anything that Linley currently did not know would have died with her mother. Yet, she had hope that somewhere in her brain contained the knowledge to unlock the phone.

"What are you still doing up?" Wallace asked, knocking before poking his head into the room. Linley quickly piled most of the stuff, except the charging phone, back into the box and into her bag.

She shrugged, "found this in some of mom's things. Surprised it still works," Linley confessed, holding the phone.

Wallace smiled, "wow, that's old. Do you mind?" he asked, holding out his hand for it.

Nervously Linley handed it over and watched him start pushing buttons, "Don't!" she said before she could filter herself, "I mean you only get a few tries before it locks itself and…" Her eyes widened in amazement when she noticed he unlocked the phone. "How did you do that?" she asked, taking the phone back.

Wallace shrugged, "I don't know, I must have done it a million times back in the day; I guess my hand just remembered. There weren't many people your mom trusted, and I was lucky enough to be one of them, at least for a little while."

"Do you remember anything else about her?" Linley couldn't believe that she was talking. Since the funeral, she really hadn't had much to say.

Wallace fully entered the room and sat down on the bed, "She was tough as nails; not scared of anything. She always had about a million thoughts running through her head at once, and it was better to just not ask questions. You never wanted to get on her bad side, but deep down, she was a marshmallow."

Linley nodded, "Why did you stop being friends?"

"Your mom got offered a job at the F.B.I. in D.C. right after graduation and she took it; left without saying goodbye to anyone. I was drafted to the NBA and travelled a lot. She had you. Time and space, I guess. I don't think we ever stopped being friends, though, I think we just grew apart," Wallace said sadly, wishing he had made more of an effort to spend time with his best friend. "I'm going to head back to bed, don't stay up too late, you have school in the morning."

Once he was gone, Linley went back to the phone. There were several saved messages on it, which delighted her. When the voicemail prompted for a pass code, without thinking she typed in the pass code for her mother's current cell phone's voicemail, and was surprised that it actually worked. "_First saved message…_" the automated voice said before bringing up the message, "_Hey Veronica, I know you said you needed some time, but I miss you. Please call me…_" the message cut off and the automated voice came back, "_Message recorded at 11:29 P.M. on Friday, May 29._"

"_Next saved message…"_ the automated voice continued, "_I need to see you, tonight. I'll be there in twenty minutes. Please…_" Linley noted that it was the same male voice, but a little more desperate this time as the automated voice continued with the time stamp, "_Message recorded at 1:12 A.M. on Saturday, July 19._"

"_Next saved message…_" Linley wondered how many her mother saved on the phone as the male voice came on again, "_I know you're nervous about tomorrow or today rather, when you hear this message, and I just wanted to leave you a message to wake up to. I'll see you in a few hours. I love you..._ _Message recorded at 11:58 P.M. on Sunday, August 24._"

After several more messages in the same love-y manner from the same male voice, Linley began to wonder who the mysterious man was. Too bad the messages didn't have his name. Some parts of the year were dry spells; she figured whatever messages left there weren't important enough to save. Listening again, once they were finished, she began jotting down the dates and times into a notebook.

Looking through them, she noted that they spanned about a two year period almost exactly before stopping suddenly in the middle of May. Knowing that the messages had to occur around the time her mother was close to Uncle Wallace, since he recognized the phone, she narrowed down the possible years to high school and college and a quick internet search of calendars from those years pinpointed the exact dates: May 2008 to May 2010.

Counting on her fingers from her birth date on February 14, 2011, Linley could almost comfortably conclude that the mystery man on the phone messages had to be her father. That was certainly bizarre; the first time she heard the voice of her father was on an eighteen year old saved voicemail message to her mother. Why hadn't anyone said his name in any of the messages?

Was he the one that gave her mother the fancy ring? Were they engaged? What happened? Linley continued to make notes in her notebook of her thoughts, wanting to find answers to all of her questions. Her mother had taken a job in D.C. right after graduation. Was she running away? Did she know she was pregnant? Could she have met someone right after moving to D.C.?

The questions swirled making it impossible to sleep. Giving the voicemails a break for the moment, Linley searched through the saved text messages. While there were plenty of saved messages, with the same love-y tone, there wasn't a name in sight. Either her mother had removed the name from the phone number later or she never put it in so anyone glancing at her phone wouldn't have a clue who anyone was.

It didn't matter, using her mother's password on the "Prying Eyez" website; Linley entered the number and pulled up the information on the owner. The search returned three results. Since the number originated, three people had the number. Immediately, she mentally crossed off the woman from the list. Clearly a woman did not send those kinds of messages or have a man-voice.

So that left Bachelor #1 and Bachelor #2. Though desperately wanting to continue her research that evening, she felt her body betraying her mind succumbing to its desires to sleep. Thus, she hid the notebook away inside her bag with the rest of her stuff, making sure each bag's lock was secure before crawling into bed.

The fact that she insisted upon leaving everything she owned in one of the three bags she brought with her, locked up at all times, really annoyed Jackie. About a week ago, Jackie had tried to unpack for the girl while she was at school, thinking it would be a nice gesture, but found all of the bags to have locks on them. She complained to Wallace, insisting he talk her into removing the locks and unpacking, but it never got any further than that.

The next morning at school, she found hers thoughts wandering back to the two possible men that could have sent the messages to her mother sixteen years ago. By lunch she found herself at a table, alone, continuing her research. Linley blocked out the noise of lunch hour by replaying the cell phone messages through her headphones once she uploaded the files to her laptop.

She was so involved in her research that she didn't notice when someone else sat down at her table. "What are you listening to?" the boy asked her, to which she made no response. Again he tried to get her attention by waving a hand in front of her face.

She cursed in excitement before looking up from her computer and pulling out her headphones, "What do you want?"

"I'm Scott," he said simply, to which she responded with an annoyed eye roll. That was certainly not what he was expecting. "Did you really kill your parents?" he asked, questioning one of the rumors he heard around school.

Really? That's why everyone was staring at her? Someone started a stupid rumor that she killed her parents? "Sure, why not," she said sarcastically, "and now I'm on the run from the law, right?" With that, she put her headphones back in and refocused her attention back on to her laptop.

Again he distracted her, receiving yet another glare from the teenage girl, "What are you doing?"

"Research," she responded simply. She'd been there almost a month and _now_ the welcome committee was harassing her? If looks could kill, the boy sitting at her table would have been dead by now.

Thankfully the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Linley packed up her things and instead of heading to her fourth period class, she left the school grounds. If her mother was still alive, she never would have pulled a stunt like this, but she went "home" or rather Uncle Wallace's, in the middle of the school day and didn't give it a second thought.

She needed to finish looking through the box to confirm her suspicions of Bachelor #1 being her father, and the box was in her bag in the guest room, which was now her room. The last piece of evidence that she had was the flash drive on the chain. Putting it in to her laptop, Linley was surprised at the lack of password protection.

Looking through the files, many of them were saved e-mails, really old saved e-mails and a few photos. Linley clicked on the first one and waited while her computer accessed the file. It was short, only a few lines of text, and certainly informal.

_I tried calling you but you won't answer your phone. Maybe e-mail will work better for you? We really need to talk, please call me back. I'm not mad. Please? I miss you._

Checking the date, it fell right around the time that the phone messages stopped: May 2010. The next one was of a similar nature, her mother asking some still nameless person to call her. It wasn't until the lastone that the tone changed. Linley noted that the date was a few days after she was born.

_Logan,_

_Since you probably don't check this e-mail address anymore, I might as well just tell you. We have a daughter, Logan. I named her Linley: Lynn, after your mom, and "ly" after Lilly. She always was nice to me. She's beautiful. I attached a few pictures for you. If you ever want to meet her, you know where we are._

_Veronica_

Bachelor #1: Logan Echolls, Neptune California. Her father had a name and a location and she was going to find him. The great thing about living in the 21st century was the ability to buy a plane ticket for the next flight to wherever from any computer with internet access. Watch out California, Linley Mars is coming your way.

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A/N: Yeah, I had to. Logan of course. Reviews are awesome. For reals.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! You guys are amazing. I think that is really all I have for this chapter, other than it is a bit shorter than the last one. Uh. There is a flashback in italics. I guess that should be noted. Enjoy!

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Chapter 3: Are You My Father?

However, Linley wasn't stupid enough to put in her credit card information online to buy a plane ticket. That was easily traced. She waited until she got to the airport, purchased a ticket there, with cash and a very skillfully done fake I.D. and boarded the plane, completely off the grid.

Wallace would notice she was missing soon enough, and she just needed a little extra time to find what she was looking for. He would call the police and they would give him a generic response to wait 24-hours. She still wouldn't be back and any possible leads they could have had would be gone. Wallace would know that too, since he had been friends with her mother for so long. He wouldn't find her unless she wanted to be found. Linley wouldn't even be surprised if he didn't have a recent photo of her to give to the police.

She had a layover in Minneapolis, where she was able to keep her head down and check the news to make sure the search hadn't begun. Once she was certain, Linley took a chair in the lounge and waited the short hour and a half before her plane to California boarded. If there weren't any officers waiting for her in California, she knew the rest of the journey would be easy.

After landing in California, she felt she could finally breathe again. Exiting the airport was a lot simpler than entering it, as she just needed to collect her bag from baggage claim, stroll out of the airport and catch a taxi to the address she had written down earlier. In less than an hour, she could be at her father's house.

The drastic change in time zone hit her when she exited the airport, noting it was still sunny out when her body expected it to be getting dark. The whole experience seemed so surreal as she got into a taxi and watched the landscape, wondering how much of this her mother grew up seeing every day and what was new.

Linley expected a small house in the suburbs, not a grand mansion with a gate and a fence surrounding it on a huge plot of land less than a hundred feet from the beach. The taxi driver didn't judge and just waited to be paid. He had taken dozens of people to the Echolls manor to gawk, why would this tourist be any different.

The fence, however, certainly threw a wrench in her plans of just walking up to the door and knocking. Linley noticed the security guard sitting in the booth at the gate and walked over to him; maybe she could talk her way in.

"Name?" he asked, annoyed at his profession.

"Hi, I was just wondering if..." she was cut off.

"Visitors are not allowed on the property unless they have an appointment or are on the list. Do you have an appointment?" the security guard looked at her and rolled his eyes. She didn't have an appointment, he could tell.

Linley thought for a moment, fidgeting with the ring, which she had placed on a chain around her neck. She didn't want it in her bag for the flight and thought it might be safer around her neck. "Where did you get that?" the security guard asked her, breaking her from her thoughts.

"It's mine," she defended and watched as the security guard moved to look at her more clearly. "Can I help you with something? You're kind of staring."

He shook his head, "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Who?" she released the ring from her fingers and let the chain fall around her neck. "Who did you think I was?"

The guard moved back inside his station, "I don't remember her name, she's older now. I guess I always thought she would come back for him someday."

"Would you mind checking if I'm on the list?" she asked, hopefully, taking her mother's I.D. from her own wallet and handing it over.

Her mother hadn't had her photo updated in a while, they shared similar features and in certain light she resembled the small grainy photo on her mother's license, not that she ever tried to get away with it, since she had her own top notch fake, but maybe her mother would be on this mythical list.

The security guard had worked there for a while, at least fifteen years. He took the plastic card and went down the list of names before matching the I.D. to one about halfway down the list. "Okay Miss Mars, I'll buzz you in and let Mr. Echolls know that you're here."

Trying not to let her shocked expression show, Linley took the card back and waited for the gate to slide open. With a wave, she set off up the path to the house, bags in tow. The shock that would await the man inside the house when he opened the door and not find his long lost lover would be priceless.

Inside the house, Logan was surprised to hear his security guard informing him of a visitor, "Who is it?" he asked, pressing the button on the intercom to communicate.

"Miss Veronica Mars, sir," he responded as though it was an everyday occurrence.

Logan released the button and wiped his hands on the kitchen towel. Could it really be her? He hadn't seen her since that day in May sixteen years ago. He knew she would be mad, but he didn't think it would take her sixteen years to forgive him.

"_Logan, please, don't," Veronica said, fighting him. "Why can't we just go to Paris like you promised?"_

_He hated to see her so upset, "Because I don't want you to wake up one day and regret turning down this amazing opportunity for me. Give it a year. If you hate it, you can come home. I'll be waiting, but please, promise me you'll give it a try."_

_She shook her head, "After everything? We worked so hard to get here and you're sending me away? There will be other jobs, Logan."_

"_This was your dream long before I was, Veronica. I have to let you do this," he said, trying to keep face. She was crying and it broke his heart, but he had to know. He had to know that she would still choose him after experiencing what the F.B.I. had to offer, so he put her on the plane._

_She called and e-mailed him for months after that day, and he deleted every voicemail and e-mail that showed up in his box. He had to make her stay. He had to force her to give it a shot. Soon the calls stopped and the e-mails stopped and he knew she always belonged there; he was only borrowing her._

Opening the door, his jaw dropped. Standing in front of him was not the love of his life but a blonde teenager. Instinctively, he moved to close the door but she stopped it with her foot. "Don't," she said.

Linley looked up at the man whom she recognized from a few of the photos on her mother's cell phone. She definitely found the right place. Nervously she began fidgeting with the ring again, realizing it was probably a bad idea to do that in a public place, but not before he noticed it, and like the security guard asked, "Where did you get that?"

"Now you're interested?" she asked, rolling her eyes, "Two seconds ago you were slamming a door in my face."

He shook his head, "What do you want?"

"To be invited inside would be a nice start," Linley looked him up and down, taller than she expected. He moved out of the way and allowed her to walk in, stepping in from the shadow the house created on the porch and into the light in the entrance way.

He looked her over, noting her wavy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and her short stature. "I'm Linley Mars," she offered, starting one of the classic negotiation techniques. She offered something of value to him in order to get something she wanted in return.

"Mars?" he asked, putting the pieces together in his head. "As in Veronica Mars… you're her… daughter?"

Linley nodded, looking around, the place was nice. Something bad must have happened for her mother to prefer living the way they did to this. "Yeah, in the flesh. What is it that you do?" she asked, noting the expansive living space.

"I'm an actor," he said, distracted, "How old are you?"

Linley grinned, knowing she had him and he would answer all of her questions without even realizing it, "Sixteen. What kind of actor?"

"Television show," Logan answered, trying to do the mental math before his eyes widened, "Am I your…"

"Father?" she finished for him, "I'm pretty sure. She never told me. What's the deal with the ring?" Linley asked, holding it out.

He looked at it, almost in disbelief that she had it, "Engagement ring, does your mom know that you're here?"

"You don't know?" she asked, and received a look. Linley looked away, "She died almost two months ago."

She watched his face change from disbelief and anger to heartbreak and sadness. His strong frame crumbled as his knees gave out and instinctively she reached out to grab him. She was surprised at how similar his reaction was to her own, except she didn't have anyone to catch her. Linley had never been in the position to comfort someone before and it felt awkward to her to have a grown man crying on her shoulder, holding on to her for dear life, like his entire world was being torn from beneath him.

"How?" he asked once he had calmed the pain in his chest still overwhelming.

"Car accident. She was at work, on her way to a crime scene. Head on collision. Other guy got out and ran away. They never found him. She died on impact. Crazy, huh?" Linley remembered the story she was told and didn't believe at the time. She had fought Agent Weiner so hard, yelled at him for lying to her. "Why didn't you fight for us?" Linley asked softly.

"What?" Logan asked, as if she was speaking a foreign language.

She moved away from him, just out of reach, to get a better look, "You never once came to D.C. to look for us."

"I stayed in this house for sixteen years hoping she would hate it there and come back. That was the plan, give it a year," he fought back, not that it meant anything now.

Linley felt bad, she really did. This grown man was falling apart at the seams in front of her. "I read the e-mails; she just wanted you to want me." She paused for a moment, wondering if she should ask her next question, then gave in, "Do you want me?"

The silence that followed was deafening. "Right, okay. I get it. You never wanted kids. I guess mom was right. Well, it was great getting to meet you, sorry for ruining your day," she ranted, collecting her things and heading towards the door.

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A/N: Review! I love reading what you guys think. For serious. Thanks for all of your support!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I loved your reviews and that everyone is so passionate. So here is the continuation, a little daddy-daughter bonding time. P.S. I still haven't decided if I want her to call him dad/daddy or Logan. Feel free to speak your peace of that matter (I might take it into consideration).

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"Wait," Logan said, stopping her, "Of course I want you. It's just complicated."

Linley turned around, but didn't drop her stuff, "What's so complicated? I'm here. If you want me to be a part of your life, tell me to stay. If you don't, that's cool too, I'll leave and you never have to see me again."

He sighed, "You're not a reporter? You're not going to sell this story to every gossip rag on the market?" Logan had been burned before with the prospect of family, when it came to his half-brother Charlie Stone, who still refused to speak to him.

"Do you want a paternity test? Do you want me to sign a confidentiality agreement? I came here because I don't have any fucking family left. Do you know what that's like?" she was yelling now, dropping her bags and readying for a fight. How had their sappy moment a minute ago turned into a screaming match?

"Actually, I do," Logan retorted. He knew exactly what it was like. With the pause in conversation, she allowed him to lead her into the kitchen. He felt like he needed to be doing something with his hands while he talked, so he began preparing lunch. "My grandparents died when I was young, my mom jumped off of a bridge when I was in high school, my dad was murdered just after I graduated, but he was a pretty bad guy anyway, so it wasn't a terrible loss. My sister, Trina, only comes around when she wants something or needs help. I guess we're kind of in the same boat?"

Linley took a barstool across from where he was cooking, all of the anger leaving her system. Sometimes it sucked to be a girl. "I'm sorry," she offered, not really sure what to do with that information.

"It was a long time ago," Logan said before looking in a cabinet for something else. "What was she like... as a mom I mean?"

She smiled thinking of her mom, "She made me feel like I was the most important thing in the world. I don't even know how to describe it. It's like she was my best friend and my mom at the same time, like we were equals, until I did something that required punishment, but that was rare. She never once made me feel like I was a mistake or she didn't want me or that I had ruined her life or whatever."

Logan listened to her words as he finished preparing lunch and slid a plate in front of her. "So, what do you like to do?" he asked, taking a bite of his own sandwich, unsurprised at her answer. He always knew Veronica would make a great mother someday, and seeing the teenage girl in his kitchen only confirmed those thoughts.

"Turn tricks on the street," Linley said with a smile and watched his reaction before laughing. "I'm a pretty good photographer. I've been the lead in the school musical for the past four years. There's always some kind of festival or museum to go to in D.C."

They continued talking, sharing memories and surprisingly Linley found herself eating an entire meal for the first time since her mother died. In the past few weeks she'd been nibbling and pushing food around her plate, not really having an appetite. "How did you know?" she asked, realizing what she had just eaten. It didn't occur to her as she ate it, since she had it all the time as a child.

"Know what?" he asked, clearing the plates.

"That's my favorite. It tastes like my childhood," she explained, feeling better than she had in a while.

His face lit up in a smile, "It's mine, too. When I was a kid, my parents weren't around much and we had this maid who worked for us. She would cook meals for me sometimes, and one day she thought that I should learn how to make something for myself, so she taught me how to make this," he explained, placing the dishes in the sink.

"You needed to be taught how to make a sandwich?" she laughed, before hopping off of her stool, her question left unanswered.

They left the kitchen in favor of the living room once the dishes were done, relaxing into the comfortable couch, content. Linley dug into her pocket for the keys and tossed them to him, "Any idea what those are to?" she asked, changing the subject, "They're all labeled, but the names don't really mean anything to me and…" she continued rambling as he flipped through the keys.

Holding one up, "This was to Mars Investigations, where she worked with her dad, your grandfather, in high school and college; it's still there, just closed. Uh…" he flipped to another, "this was for their apartment. I guess someone else lives there now. I haven't been over there in a long time." Logan continued explaining keys that he knew, skipping one occasionally, until he got to a very familiar one, "This is the key to this house and this one is for the guest house. And here's the spare key to the car I drove sixteen years ago. I can't believe she kept these. Where did you say you found them?"

"I… uh… didn't say, but I found them in a box in her room when I was… packing up the apartment after she, uh…" Why was this so hard for her? She watched him nod, knowing what she meant without needing her to say it.

He was torn. He wanted to grieve the loss of the love of his life, but at the same time he was intrigued by the girl who sat in front of him, his daughter. The curiosity won out every time, the back of his mind telling him he could grieve later, in his own room, at night, perhaps after she left. How long was she staying? Where was she staying? Should he offer her a place in his own home? Would that be weird? Instead, he asked, "What else was in the box?"

"This," she said, holding out the ring again, "in its box. I put it on the chain. I wanted to keep it safe. An old cell phone, with a ton of messages saved on it, from you, a flash drive with the e-mails she sent to you saved to it. Some other junk that I'm sure is important. Do you want me to get you the box? It probably means more to you than it does to me. I already went through it. It's how I found you."

Linley brought her suitcase into the living room, leaving the duffel in the hall for the moment and her backpack still on her back. She quickly located the box and handed it to him. For some reason, she felt comfortable sharing all of this with him; it was certainly a new feeling, but it didn't come with the bad feeling in her stomach that normally came along with a bad decision. "This is going to sound really stupid," she began, her hands still in the bag, "but do you want to see pictures of me as a kid?"

Logan nodded and watched her pull a photo album from the bag before returning to her spot on the couch; obviously she meant for him to look through the box later. "So, this is me on the day I was born," she said, opening the album and pointing to the picture taken in the hospital that a nurse took of Veronica holding her new baby in a hospital bed. He felt a pang of sadness, noting how empty the hospital room was. She was alone with a new baby and never looked more beautiful.

She continued describing various life events occurring in the photos, "My first dance recital," her hand moved across the page, "I got my yellow belt in karate," and then to the adjoining page, "my first swim meet, I came in first place in backstroke," and then to another photo, "the first play I starred in at the community center; I was Annie."

The pictures were definitely proof of a proud parent and Logan was impressed with her various accomplishments, although it didn't appear that she stuck with anything for long. He watched her grow through the pictures, wishing that Veronica would come out from behind the camera more often. "Your mom loved taking pictures," he noted, "Not many with her in them."

Linley held up her finger and ran back to the hall. He watched her dig through her duffel before returning with a box and handed it to him. With a quizzical look he opened the box to reveal an unorganized, large stack of photos. Taking a handful off the top he noted the classic self portrait pose complete with silly faces of the two of them. "Is this more of what you were looking for?" she asked, watching his face at each picture.

"These are great. Really," he held out a more recent one complete with tongues out.

She laughed, "That was only a few months ago. We were being silly and making faces at each other because that's how our arguments ended up. I think it started when I was little and we would disagree and I would stick my tongue out at her and she'd do it right back and you really can't stay mad at someone when you're both sticking your tongues out at each other. It's really not possible."

From photos they moved on to home movies that she had saved on her laptop. While he loved seeing their candid moments, he felt left out. He should have been there. If only he had answered one of those phone calls or responded to an e-mail or never even put her on that plane, he could have been there. Who knows, if he was there, maybe she'd still be alive. Guilt was a stage of grief, right?

Into the night, he began sharing more of himself: showing photos of himself with Veronica before she went to D.C., the pilot of his television show, his family, until he realized the time, "Do you want dinner or something? I'm starving."

"Me too," she responded, surprised at herself, "What are you offering? Cause, you know I can eat."

"So could your mom," he laughed, "She could pack away food like no one else. It's one of the things that I loved about her." Logan got off the couch and walked back to the kitchen, Linley following close behind, not worrying about packing up her stuff just yet.

Opening the fridge, he realized that he didn't keep much food in the house, "Take out?"

Looking over the selection of menus for various delivery services they decided on a pizza, breadsticks, and spicy wings, because why not? They settled in to the kitchen to wait for the food to arrive, continuing their conversation. "We'll have to do something special on Father's Day to make up for my slacking the past sixteen years," she joked, taking a sip of her water. "That is, if you want to. I'm not trying to pressure you into doing anything or being a part of my life or anything. I just… I'm sorry."

"I'd like that, really and I do want to be a part of your life. Are you staying anywhere tonight? I could give you a ride after we eat, if you need one," he offered, not wanting her to walk around late at night by herself.

She looked away, "I didn't really plan this trip. I haven't thought that far ahead yet, but if you know a good place I could stay, I'm open to suggestions."

"Stay here," Logan offered without a pause, "I have like six guest rooms that no one ever uses, take your pick, stay as long as you like. The sheets are fresh; Rosa changes them often, even though no one sleeps there…. Rosa is my maid," he clarified. He didn't really like the thought of hired help but with his busy filming schedule, he was rarely home and needed someone to look after the place and prevent the dust from piling up too high.

"Yeah… okay, thank you. You know, our whole apartment could probably fit in your kitchen, with room to spare," she commented, looking around the spacious kitchen, one of the three places she had been in his house. Not knowing the full extent of the size of the first floor, she couldn't imagine what the bedrooms on the second floor looked like.

When the pizza arrived, Logan greeted the delivery man, bringing the food back to the kitchen to continue their conversation. "So, the past couple of years, my mom had this partner, Agent Warner and every time I saw him, I called him Agent Weiner, just to piss him off. It was great. He had the biggest crush on my mom and she had no interest in the poor guy," Linley said, taking a bite of her pizza. "He was such a tool, though, couldn't take his head out of his ass long enough to realize she wasn't interested. Douchebag wasn't even upset when she died. I want to smack him so hard."

Logan laughed, imagining the tiny blonde taking on a Federal Agent. "Just like your mom, making friends everywhere you go."

"Well, I'm beat," she said, throwing her napkin on to her empty plate, "Would you mind showing me to my room?" He nodded, clearing the plates while she collected her things from the living room before heading upstairs. It didn't really matter to him which room she selected, and pointed out the doors, allowing her to look into each one before deciding.

A grin spread across his lips, "You know, this is the room your mom designed. I had just bought the place and she was going room by room, picking things out and color schemes…" She never got to finish. He sent her away and when she wasn't coming back, he hired a designer to finish the rest of the house. Logan didn't really have a preference when it came to furniture and color schemes, but it mattered to her and so he let her. Truthfully, that room was his favorite, everything else in the house felt cold, except that room.

Linley inspected the room, looking at the décor and noting that some very similar pieces had shown up in their own apartment. "Is it weird that I feel like I'm home?" she asked, finally taking a seat on the bed.

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A/N: Definitely more to come. Some surprise visitors, perhaps. Reviews are lovely and they make me update faster. Truefacts.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: After a few reviewers mentioned this, I felt that I should explain something: The Dick/Logan relationship. I had originally wrote a scene about this, but it wasn't long enough to be its own chapter and didn't really fit in well into any of the others, and I didn't really see it as this huge travesty that it didn't make it in. Apparently I was just being dumb. So, the question was, why didn't Dick tell Logan. Veronica only told Wallace and Mac, her closest friends, who's loyalty is always to Veronica, first, no matter how distant their relationships become. She also never specifically told either one of them who Linley's father was, though they could assume. Dick finds out when Mac and Dick go to Veronica's funeral and the custody hearing. The reason they sit quietly in the back instead of fighting for Linley is because they are Logan's neighbors (I couldn't see Logan and Dick moving too far away from each other after all they've been through together, and with Veronica supposed to marry Logan and live in that house, she would be right next door to Mac as well, which is nice, you know, or maybe across the street. Something along those lines, it doesn't really matter because I didn't include this part). So, yeah, two months ago ish, when Veronica died, Dick could have gone to Logan, told him, and let the pieces fall where they may, but he really doesn't want to cause his friend any unnecessary pain, e.g. telling Logan he has a child with Veronica only to find out the assumption was wrong and Linley is actually someone else's kid, meaning Veronica wasted no time moving on, and that would also mean telling him Veronica died. Instead Dick's more of the encouraging him to move on friend, without telling him what happened, telling him to get over her, etc. I don't know, I just saw Dick more in this role, maybe he's grown a bit with age. But yeah, there's that.

Also, this was kind of one of my favorite chapters to write. I think it's really fun and I thought that if Linley was going to stay in Neptune, she'd need a few friends. I know that Amelia was used on the show as a name, and I kind of remembered this later, after I had already named this character Amelia, and I honestly couldn't really see her being called anything else, so that happened.

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After a few days in Neptune, Logan and Linley had gotten into a routine. A paternity test had proven what they already knew and both felt a little more relaxed. Logan had to be on set most of the day, every day, leaving Linley to her own devices. She never wandered far, just to the beach or to check out a local store, knowing that she should probably be in school with the rest of the sixteen-year-olds, however, she wasn't sure if this was a permanent situation yet.

"Hey," a male voice came from her left side, near the wall that divided the property. Linley was lying near the pool in her bikini, enjoying the warm California sun that tanned her desperately pale east coast skin.

She turned her head to see a male figure walking through the gate, which was unusual because no one ever seemed to enter the property. "Hi?" she questioned, unsure of his presence.

"I… uh… was walking past the gate and noticed you. Mr. Echolls doesn't usually have hot girls lounging by his pool in the middle of the afternoon," he explained, his accent thick. She pegged him to be late teens and noted his toned, tanned body in nothing but a pair of swim trunks.

Linley sat up and placed her book to the side, pulling down her shades to get a better look. He looked familiar to her, but she couldn't place from where. "That's comforting to know," she responded and stood up, closing the distance between them.

His eyes widened at her fearlessness. "I'm Daniel Kane, I live next door," he held out his hand for her to shake.

Instead of shaking his hand, she paused, mentally connecting the dots in her head, "Linley," she said distracted. Still thinking she stood, tapping her foot in front of him. "Daniel Kane?" she asked again, trying to remember where she heard that name. He nodded and his face contorted into confusion. "Did you happen to grow up in Australia?" she asked.

He nodded, "What gave it away, the accent?" he asked playfully.

"No… this is going to sound really strange, but we've met before," Linley said, suddenly realizing how she knew him. Four years ago, she went on vacation with her mother to Australia and they ran into an old friend of hers, Duncan Kane, who lived there. They spent their entire vacation hanging out with the Kane family: Duncan, his wife Kate, and their children, Lilly, Daniel, and Amelia. Quickly doing the mental math, she realized that Lilly would now be 21, Daniel, 17 and Amelia, 15.

"Let me guess, in a past life we were lovers?" he said, having heard quite a few pickup lines in his day. Apparently, the accent and abs were hits with the ladies, but he was never interested in the shallow girls of Neptune.

Linley shook her head, "No. God, no. I'm not… I mean… Come here," she said, grabbing his hand and leading him into the house to her room. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Daniel had been inside the Echolls mansion about a million times since moving to the States two years ago, yet he had never seen a crazy teenage girl there before.

"For someone who's not trying to hit on me, you have a weird way of showing it. I mean, look at us, in your bedroom, practically naked," he said, looking around. It hardly looked like a teenage girl lived there, and he knew what teenage girl looked like. He has two sisters.

Securing what she was looking for, she thrust the framed photo in his hands, "That's you, right?" she pointed to an awkward teenage boy who conveniently had his arm around her waist and sported a goofy grin.

"Yeah…" he said, taking the photo and looking at it. He always said that was the best summer of his life. "Wow."

"Wow, what? Shut up, okay? I was twelve," she snatched the photo back, protecting the image of her twelve year old self who just happened to be flat as a board.

He smiled, "Nothing. Well… I just… Do you remember what happened that summer?"

"I kissed you," she said simply, putting the picture back, "before I got on my plane back to D.C. I kissed you. On the lips. You weren't a very good kisser, either, as I do recall." Way to be blunt.

His jaw dropped, "I wasn't a good kisser? You were the one that came at me with no warning stealing my first kiss. Plus, you were all of like two feet tall, I had to bend over, crouch down, you're the one that made it awkward."

She laughed, "Right, because you so didn't want me to kiss you. Puh-lease. I mean look at that picture, you're the one with his arm around my waist. You know what, let's go find a witness? Where's Mia? Or Lilly? Or your dad? Any one of them will tell you that you were crushed out on me the entire time." It felt so natural to banter with him, like she wasn't afraid that he was going to end up hating her for calling him out on his B.S. Linley ran down the stairs to go and find another occupant of the neighboring house, Daniel quickly following after her, obviously to stop her.

Linley got as far as the pool before Daniel ran up and tackled her from behind, both of them falling into the water. She attacked him back by splashing before making her break for the side of the pool. Daniel wasn't about to let her get away and grabbed her ankle to pull her back to him. "You need to come and say hello to my dad," Daniel said as they calmed and got out of the pool.

She was just able to grab her towel before he led her through the gate. "So, what brings you to the fine state of California?" he asked as they neared his house.

"My dad," she said with a hint of secrecy while she pointed back to the Echolls' Mansion.

Still dripping, Daniel opened the sliding door to the house and walked in, leading Linley after him, who was still trying to dry off and wrap herself in her towel. "You're dripping all over the floor," Duncan said as soon as they stepped in the house, looking to the puddle at his son's feet.

"Dad, you remember Linley, right? We met her four years ago when her and her mom were on vacation in Australia. You were friends with her mom, right? She lives next door now," Daniel introduced, using her as a distraction from another lecture.

Duncan looked up and took in her face and nodded, "Veronica's daughter. I didn't know you guys moved back to town. Is she over there right now? I should go and say hi to her."

Linley looked away. Why was she the one to bear all of the bad news? "She's not home," Linley said simply, "but it's nice to see you again Mr. Kane. How have you been? How is Mrs. Kane? And Mia and Lilly?"

He instantly knew something was wrong but brushed it off. "We're all doing well, thank you for asking." Duncan finished the sandwich he was making and picked up the plate, "I wish I could stay longer, but I need to get back to work. Oh, and Daniel, she's too good for you, so don't even try. It was embarrassing the last time."

Linley burst out laughing at Duncan's burn, doubling over and gasping for breath. Helping her out, Daniel pushed her over, and she fell to the floor, face first with an ungraceful thud. He ran down the hall laughing as she got up, "Mr. Kane, you're about to have one less child because DANIEL IS A DEAD MAN!" she screamed the last part, running after him through the unfamiliar house. It was like they were children all over again. Duncan watched the pair and shook his head, could a third Kane-Mars romance be brewing between his son and Veronica's daughter in the same way he had dated Veronica and his father had dated her mother? Maybe they would be the ones to get the happy ending.

Linley couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard that her abs hurt. "Truce?" Daniel asked, plopping down next to her on the couch in the living room where she had finally cornered him.

"Truce," she agreed, leaning into him as she steadied her breathing as Amelia walked into the room.

She rolled her eyes at her brother before noticing his guest, "Oh My Gosh! Linley? Is it really you?" she squealed, grabbing her arm and pulling her off the couch. "How long have you been here? How have you been? It's been like four years? Why did you stop e-mailing me back? Come on," Amelia dragged her out of the living room and up the stairs to her own room for "girl time."

Once they were situated on her bed, Linley answered her questions. "Your brother kidnapped me from next door," she laughed, "He was totally trying to hit on me…_again_."

Amelia rolled her eyes, "As if. He's probably gay. Like seriously, he has never been on a date, weirdo. My brother is such a dork, but don't worry, you have me. When do you start school? We have to go shopping, for clothes and you need a boyfriend. I mean, look at you, little Linley Mars has certainly… grown up," she said with a laugh.

"I don't know. I haven't even thought about school. Are you sure he's gay, Mia?" Despite the fact that they haven't physically been in the same place in four years and e-mailed only occasionally, every time they spoke they were like long lost best friends.

Linley watched Amelia flop back on her bed, "God, Linley, you can do so much better than my stupid brother. There are like a million cute guys here and… wait… why are you wearing a bikini?"

"I was sunbathing and reading when Daniel interrupted me and kidnapped me," she explained, looking at all of the extravagant things Amelia had in her room. She always had such amazing taste.

Amelia followed her gaze, looking at her boring old stuff, "Right, well, we need to go shopping, find you something cute to wear for your first day of school. Of course, you'll have to sit with me at lunch and…" she continued planning Linley's arrival to Neptune High, but all Linley could think about is if she could start school. She would need to get the whole running away from Uncle Wallace and New York thing straightened out first.

Crap! Linley just realized she never told him where she was going. He was probably worried sick and wanted her head on a platter. "Mia, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow," she said and ran out of the house.

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A/N: Reviews make my day. I realize nothing of significant really happened in this chapter other than giving Linley some desperately needed friends/a romantic interest because she is a sixteen year old girl and why not in the form of the gorgeous Kane offspring. I was kind of trying to model Mia off of the original Lilly Kane (Duncan's sister) just a bit and Daniel to be a bit like Duncan, with more of an adventurous spirit and such. I love Duncan, I'm glad I found a way to put him into this story, but sometimes he just came across as really boring and I need Daniel to be a little more interesting than that. So, yes, review, please. Thanks a million for reading this, too. Okay, I'm done with all of this filler space. Just fill in the box below with every thought that popped into your beautiful heads. Kthxbai.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: So I'm thinking I might want to have a beta for this story, I'm not really sure because depending on who, might cause a lag in updating (if they're not active, I guess or something) which I don't super want but I have some ideas for this story that I would love to bounce off of someone and talk out and explain and try to get them into a more coherent state instead of things like this where I take the coward's way out and say it happened without actually going full detail into it (I'm sorry! I did try and then I was like I want a scene of daddy/daughter moment not Logan and Wallace and lawyers and crap arguing it out.) But I do love the Logan/Linley moment in this chapter. So, if you're interested in being a beta, PM me or leave a comment in a review and we can figure out someway to contact each other I guess. Or something. More details after the chapter I guess.

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Chapter Six: Shopping Spree

When Logan came home that evening, Linley was waiting for him, in the kitchen, making dinner, "Something smells good," he commented, dropping next week's pages onto the table. The script was certainly thick this time, but it was the season finale, so his work load would become lighter pretty soon.

"It's just meatloaf and vegetables," she said simply, taking it out of the oven. "I kind of need to tell you something."

She waited until he was happily eating before breaking the news, "So, I'm sure you know that I had to have been living somewhere before I came to California, I mean, I'm sixteen, it's not like I could live by myself…" she rambled for a moment, catching his attention, before telling him the whole story.

The custody hearing. New York with Uncle Wallace. Running away and not exactly telling anyone where she was going. Using a fake I.D. to get on the plane. Remembering that afternoon that it had been a few days since she had arrived and had yet to check in. Hanging out with Daniel and Amelia and Amelia's talk of school. All of it.

He sat there and nodded. He couldn't really be mad at her for what she did; it brought them together, but he couldn't really say it was the right way to go about it. They just needed a plan, a lawyer and a new custody hearing and probably to call Wallace.

The part that bothered him the most was the fact that his best friend Dick knew and didn't tell him, but he was in a forgiving mood. If he had learned anything through all of this, it's that life is too short to remain angry over something so trivial.

"Are you telling me this because you want to stay here? With me? In Neptune?" he asked, the thought just coming to him.

"Well, yeah, I mean, if you want me to. If not, I totally get it, you have your own life and you don't need some teenage kid cramping your style and I can just go back to New York with Uncle Wallace and his wife, who is a total bitch, and their daughter who I am pretty sure is drugged out of her mind because she never says anything and its really freaky. Like pod people freaky. Like murder me in my sleep freaky," she began to ramble again. He thought it was funny how she felt the need to fill the air with words when she was uncertain.

He smiled, "Of course I do. You're my family. I'll call my lawyer in the morning and we'll get this straightened out with Wallace. Okay? And we need to register you for school. You've missed enough as it is."

She nodded, "Mia wants to go school shopping with me and sit with me at lunch and walk down the halls together."

"Mia?" he questioned, taking a bite.

"Amelia Kane? Next door? It's a nickname I gave her like four years ago," she explained, eating her own dinner now that she had calmed down a bit.

Another nod, "I guess you'll need money then. Do you have your license?" he asked. Sure, she was sixteen, but that didn't mean she had a driver's license. Did she need to be taught how to drive? Did she want to drive?

"Uh yeah, I do. I got it on my first try," Linley said proudly, remembering how awful it was to learn how to drive a standard issue F.B.I. SUV. Those things are massive, with like a million buttons everywhere.

He stood and walked over to the key pegs and pulled a set off before walking back to the table, "Take the Beamer. It's like a year old and I don't drive it anymore. I prefer my SUV any day to that thing. Oh and," he opened his wallet and pulled out a credit card and handed it to her, "for school shopping."

"I couldn't. It's too much. Are you sure?" she asked, uncertain if she should take the card.

"I think the credit limit is like $20,000? I can call and change it if that isn't enough," Logan answered, taking his seat again to finish the delicious meatloaf she made.

Her jaw dropped and her fork clattered to her plate, "So wait, I tell you that I messed up and you reward me with a place to live in a freaking mansion, $20,000 to blow at the mall and a Beamer? I just… I cannot even…Thank you."

He just laughed. This is the life she should have had all along, and he needed to make up for lost time, which would mean doubly spoiling her at every possible chance. What was he going to do with the literal millions he had in the bank? Sure, it wasn't the billions like Duncan had next door, but with money on that scale, an extra zero or two wasn't that significant.

The next morning, he did handle it. Logan talked to his lawyers, who contacted Mr. Fennell, who seemed to already be aware of the situation. Apparently Mac had seen Linley around his house and called Wallace, telling him not to worry. Within the hour, the paperwork was signed, filed, and Logan Echolls was officially granted custody of the minor child Linley Mars. Sometimes money does talk.

By the afternoon he was able to enroll her at Neptune High, getting her files sent from her school in New York, where she spent a very brief amount of time. "Well, I hate to do this, but I really need to go to work, are you going to be okay finishing up yourself?" he asked, checking his watch. He was needed on set in a half an hour.

She nodded and he left, leaving her to pick out her classes on her own: English, Math, Science, History, Journalism, Drama, Office Aid, and Spanish, before waiting in the office for the final bell. After school she would head to the mall with Amelia.

After a few eye rolls and hushed comments from a few girls in the office, Amelia showed up, "Lins! Let's go!" she exclaimed, grabbing the other girl's arm and leading her out of the office, happy to have an excuse to go to the mall.

After hours of shopping, with a quick break for dinner in the food court, both girls were exhausted and ready to head home. Although Amelia didn't reach her goal of helping Linley spend all of the money she was given, she did help her put a nice dent in it.

"So, tomorrow night is Macon Dean's party and you have to be there," Amelia said as she helped Linley put away her purchases in her room, sipping the smoothie she got from the food court. "We'll go together, with Daniel and my boyfriend, Cody, arriving fashionably late of course and color-coordinated. This way everyone already knows who you are when you start school on Monday. You'll sit with us at our lunch table with the rest of the 09ers, don't bother bringing anything, we order in. Let me see your schedule."

Linley obliged while Amelia went searching through her closet, as if she didn't already know what was in there and pulled out a dress, "You're going to wear this one with the strappy black heels you got today," she ordered, placing the dress aside from the rest of the clothing and taking the piece of paper from her friend. The odds of them having a class together were slim, given their different grades, but it was always a possibility.

Settling back on the bed, Amelia looked around, casually inspecting a framed photo, "So, when is your mom getting home, I really want to say hi to her. She is like the coolest person ever. I can't believe she ever dated my dad, he is like uber nerd."

Right. Linley forgot she hadn't told her yet. Luckily, Kate Kane chose that moment to request her daughter's presence at home, "Well it looks like that's my cue to leave. I'll see you tomorrow Lins," Amelia said, sliding off the bed to head out, "Remember, black strappy heels!"

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A/N: REVIEWS. Okay, got that out of the way. Beta anyone? Contact me somehow. Uh, up next: Macon Dean's party. Who doesn't love a name like Macon Dean? Haha. Review, maybe?


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: So, still no beta. Whatevs. Show must go on lol. I'm going to try my best and hopefully in the next few chapters I can get into a nice groove and slow things down a bit and focus in on things. Just keep with me. I can't promise Logan/Linley scenes in every chapter. I can't promise Daniel/Linley scenes in every chapter. Or Amelia/Linley or whatever. My point is, I'm going to try to go slower so while there won't be as many scenes with everyone in every chapter, it won't be like years later and no one has talked to each other. Now, that being said, I have a great party going on below, so I hope you guys enjoy.

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Chapter 7: Party, Party, Party

After making their rounds at Macon Dean's house, Amelia quickly found someone to talk to, leaving Linley to feel like an awkward third wheel of sorts. Finding a break in the conversation, she excused herself to explore the party more before finding a seat on the couch in the living room.

"Is this seat taken?" a male voice from behind her asked. Turning around she recognized Daniel and smiled, shaking her head as he climbed over the back of the couch to sit next to her. "Enjoying the party?"

Linley shrugged, but before she could answer, a pair of drunken blondes approached Daniel, slurring their words. "Daniel, you should, like, come and dance with us," one of them said, thrusting a full cup of beer in his direction, which he politely refused.

"It'll be fun," the other added, throwing her arms around his neck, which he quickly removed.

He shook his head, "Not interested." They both pouted and stumbled away, looking for another guy at the party to drape themselves over. Linley raised an eyebrow at his actions but said nothing. "She told you I was gay, didn't she?" he asked of his sister, "I'm not, really. I'm just not interested in drunk party girls who see me as a dollar sign."

She held up her hands in defense, "I didn't say anything," before lowering them and smiling, "And I didn't believe her when she did, and clearly none of these girls believe her either, or they wouldn't be throwing themselves at you. Besides, you'll be graduating soon, and then you'll get all the college booty you could want, far away from here. It's like another month, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, except I'm not going far away, I'm staying here. Hearst College, it's like right here. It's pretty nice, and Amelia's excited I can get her into college parties and introduce her to my college friends," Daniel laughed. "She started that whole gay thing when I told her I wasn't asking any of her friends to prom. I don't really even plan on going."

"Well, if you change your mind about prom, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to go with you," she laughed, "I could probably think of ten things, easy, that are worse things to do. Like getting your eyes eaten out by ants. I would rather go to prom with you than be hung by my toes from a crane and used as a wrecking ball to demolish a building or…"

He cut her off, "I think I get it. Thanks. You're too kind, really." He paused for a moment, "Your dad told my dad who told me what happened. I'm sorry about your mom. She was a really good person."

"Thanks. It still seems kind of surreal, but every cloud has a silver lining and I was able to meet my dad," she was focusing on the positives, especially in the middle of a party. Linley did not want to be _that_ girl on Monday morning.

As they sat on the couch, talking, for the rest of the evening, a few more drunk girls came and went, throwing themselves at Daniel. He ignored each one's advances, focusing only on the girl next to him. "Did I mention how pretty you look tonight?" he asked, once the latest wave of drunken girls left.

"Careful there, someone might think you were trying to hit on me," she laughed.

He smiled at her laugh, "And if you keep laughing like that, someone might think you enjoy it."

"Who said that I didn't?" Linley countered, her face dropping to complete seriousness, knowing she was moving the conversation into dangerous territory.

"Do you?" Daniel asked, inching closer to her, calling her bluff.

Her eyes met his, "I wouldn't have kissed you four years ago if I wasn't interested." She paused for a moment when his eyes left hers, "Don't not do something just because you're afraid of what people might say later. In the words of the great Dr. Seuss: Those that mind, don't matter and those that matter don't mind."

"You're pretty smart, you know that," Daniel smiled. He had never met a girl like her before. She was beautiful, smart and funny, and perhaps subconsciously she was the standard that he had been holding every other girl to since he met her four years ago.

She nodded, "I may have been told that once or twice. I think we should probably go and find Mia, it's starting to get late and I'm sure she would appreciate being gone before the police inevitably arrive to break up the party." Linley paused on the couch for a moment before getting up, "Just because I was interested four years ago doesn't mean that you should feel obligated to ask me out now. I wasn't trying to…"

He didn't let her finish, "I know, but right now is neither the time nor the place. Let's both sleep on it and we can talk tomorrow," he said and held out a hand to help her up.

They wove their way through the party looking for Daniel's sister and Linley's friend, knowing that she would, at the least, be tipsy and in need of a ride home. Finally finding her, they removed her from the crowd of people dancing together and led her to the car, depositing her in the backseat.

"I'll help you bring her in," Linley offered when they reached the Kane house. Daniel nodded and together they brought the now sleeping Amelia into the house and up to her room. "You should probably leave her a glass of water and some aspirin for the morning; she's going to have a killer hangover."

Daniel dropped Amelia on her bed, "Is it wrong that I kind of want her to suffer the effects of a terrible hangover? Maybe she'll stop getting drunk so often.

"Maybe a little, but she might be more pleasant in the morning if you do," Linley checked her watch, "I should get going. I told my dad I wouldn't be too late. It's already after the curfew my mom would have given me. Good night." With that, she left the Kane house through the back and entered her own house through the back door.

Logan sat in the living room, going over his script, waiting for his daughter to get home. He had never imagined stepping into that role so quickly; staying up to make sure she got home okay after a party. Though, the only parenting role he hadn't found himself in yet was punishment, but on the other hand, she had never done anything warranting punishment. The thought that he might at some point have to, terrified him.

"You didn't have to wait up," she said, stopping in the living room on the way to the stairs.

He put the pages down on the couch, "I wasn't," he half-truthed, "I was reading the pages for my call tomorrow and I lost track of the time."

Linley took a spot next to him on the couch, "I don't believe you. For the record, I don't intend to make this a habit. You know, mom didn't really like me out past eleven. Granted, that's eleven in D.C., a place where I didn't want to be out past eleven. It's a lot nicer here. For the record, I know this is your house, your rules, but I've lived with her rules for the first sixteen years of my life, so it might take me a little while to adjust."

"I don't mind if you're out late. I was a teenager once too, and I remember several occasions that I didn't make it home until the next morning. I'm okay if you want to have a drink or two, as well, just as long as you're responsible and don't try to drive. I remember this one time, we were like fifteen, it was homecoming, me and your mom and Duncan and his sister Lilly were out all night drinking champagne in a limousine as we rode around Neptune. It was one of the best nights of my life," Logan remembered. Even though she was with Duncan at the time and he was with Lilly, Logan knew there was something between them.

Linley laughed, "Yeah, right. What next? Pigs fly? My mom would never stay out all night getting drunk. She didn't drink. Ever. We never had it in the apartment. We would go to this F.B.I. benefit thing every year and they would have an open bar and serve champagne and she would opt for the sparkling apple cider, every time. For as long as I can remember, I have never seen her have a drink or witnessed her coming home with alcohol on her breath or a hangover."

Logan figured that had something to do with Lianne Mars. The best way to ensure that you didn't abandon your child for the love of the drink was to never have a drink. It made sense. He wondered if he should bring that up or drop it. Deciding to leave it for the moment, he continued the conversation, "It was one of the few times I had ever seen her drink. After Lilly died…" The thought crossed Logan's mind that Veronica was now reunited with her best friend in heaven. He was sure she was going to be just fine.

"I know. She had this picture of her and Lilly framed by her bed. Some nights, when I was really little, and I would ask her to tell me a story before bed, they would be about something she did with Lilly. It's nice to know she has a friend up there. I should probably go to bed, but if there's anything you ever want to know about the past sixteen years, just ask. I know she never let many people in, but I was special; she gave birth to me, I was the exception. Good night," she said and kissed him on the cheek before continuing to her bedroom, where she could just be alone.

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A/N: Reviews are lovely. I read them all. You guys rock. Uh... next time: First day of school at Neptune High, where money really can buy you happiness. If that wasn't their motto, it really should have been.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: So, here it is, Linley's first day of Neptune high. I kind of dropped a few names in this chapter, but many of them are really just background players, so don't stress too much about that. Obviously we have Daniel and Amelia, who are important, and Linley (duh), but there is also Jenna Casablancas, the daughter of Mac and Dick, who is worth noting, since she is the daughter of Mac and Dick. Sorry with the inconsistent updates, but I'm still trying to figure out my end game here and I don't want to give away too much or close too many doors, so bear with me a bit because fun stuff is coming up.

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Chapter 8: School Days

Monday morning at school, she was bored by the predictability of the school. It seemed like every other high school in America with the cliques and social groups, except this school's social groups seemed to be dependent upon income. With a sigh she threw her morning books into her locker and contemplated lunch.

Walking down the hall to lunch, Daniel and Amelia walked up on either side of her to lead Linley to their table, receiving several stares. Taking a seat at the best table available, the court of 09ers crowded around, waiting for delivery men and gossip.

In addition to the Kanes, who had regular seats at the 09er table, some of the offspring of Neptune's richest had permanent seats at the table, most notably Jenna Casablancas, a freshman, Cody Bradshaw, Amelia's boyfriend, and Dylan Corbeck, the son of the new pitcher for Neptune's baseball team. Linley was just the latest edition to the "millionaire's circle" of Neptune High.

Some blonde came up to Daniel from the other side and began talking to him, despite his disinterest. Amelia noticed and stood, walking over to her and tapping her on the shoulder before crossing her arms, "Goodbye," she said when the girl looked up, offering a little wave of her hand.

"Come on Amelia, how long are you going to punish me?" the girl asked in an annoying whiny voice.

Amelia pretended to think and put her finger to her chin, "Uh, maybe until you invent a time machine, go back in time, and not sleep with my boyfriend, you filthy whore." She turned on her heel and returned to her seat, leaving the blonde humiliated to sulk back to her seat on the other side of the lunch area.

"She was just asking me to a movie," Daniel said, and before he could add anything about his lack of interest in going, his sister had something to say.

Amelia rolled her eyes, "Anyone you date has the potential to become my sister and _she_ is not sister material."

"So, Amelia, who is sister material?" Daniel asked, turning to look at his sister dead on.

She pretended to scan the school for potential candidates, shaking her head when a female entered her line of vision before pointing to Linley, "Her. I wouldn't mind having her as a sister. She's fun, we're practically the same size, which means unlimited potential for closet sharing, and we're like besties for life, which is almost sisterdom, but you can't date her. A. she's too good for you, bro, and B. I don't want her to feel awkward at our sleepovers when she inevitably breaks your heart and you're still pining for her in the next room. For the record, I would take her side, mostly because it means not taking your side." With that, Amelia was finished with the conversation and turned around to give her attention to her boyfriend.

Linley sat awkwardly between them before pulling her bag over her shoulder and standing up, walking away from the table. She would rather eat in a stall in the girls' bathroom than sit there at that moment. Of course, everyone's eyes followed her out accompanied by a few gasps. No one had just left the 09er table before, and certainly not such a prime spot between the Kane siblings. She had to be mental.

The next thing that happened possibly shocked them even more: Daniel Kane stood and ran after her. Never in the history of ever had Daniel Kane run after a girl before. Sure, the ladies chased him and he was known to ignore them, be disinterested or even look right through them as if they were invisible. The only eyes that weren't on the pair leaving the 09er table belonged to Amelia Kane and her boyfriend, who occupied themselves with other activities.

Daniel caught up with her as she entered the building, not really sure where she was going, but needing to be away from the social hierarchy for a minute. He grabbed her elbow, gently, stopping her, "Linley, wait."

She spun and looked at him, "I don't want to get in the middle of whatever you and Amelia have going on, okay, so I'm removing myself from all of it. This isn't me. I'm invisible. I sit in the back, I go unnoticed, I wear second-hand clothing and some days I smell funny because I had to sit next to the homeless guy on the bus. That's me. Sitting at that table, I feel like the net in a tennis match at Wimbledon and everyone's watching, like I'm some prized toy that you guys can't share."

"I'll talk to Mia. I promise you that her bark is worse than her bite. Every morning she says that she's never speaking to me again because I 'make the hallway smell like dude' and therefore all day she is going to smell like 'dude,' whatever that means. Yet, here we are and she's still speaking to me," Daniel laughed.

Linley offered a weak smile, "I still can't go back out there."

"Why not?" Daniel asked, confused.

At the precise moment Linley pointed her finger up the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. She smirked as she shrugged past him and went to her locker to get her afternoon books. At least her final classes of the day would be easier than the morning ones: drama, journalism and office aide.

There wasn't a single 09er in sight in the drama room, but that didn't stop the group of students from whispering as she walked in. She took a seat in the back and dropped her bag to her feet. At the bell, a frizzy haired woman rushed into the room in a panic, "Sasha has strep throat again!" she said, moving around the room in a hurry, "They want to take her tonsils out. Now who is going to play Maria?"

It took the woman a moment to notice the new addition to her class, as the only person in the room who wasn't doing anything, "You, there, are you the new student? They told me I had a new student. I never get new students. What is your name? Oh, I have it written here somewhere."

Linley laughed, the woman was downright crazy and quite flustered and it was the most amusing thing ever. "Lindsay something, right?" the woman asked, "come up here."

She rolled her eyes and stood from the chair, making her way to the front, "It's Linley, Linley Mars."

"Right, Lindsay, can you sing? I need a new Maria like yesterday," she said, flipping through the large stack of papers that cluttered her desk before finding a music sheet and handing it to Linley. "Center stage, open chest."

Linley casually looked at the title of the song before finding the front of the room with the small raised platform, "Class, class," the teacher said, standing, calming everyone in the room, "Lindsay is auditioning for the part of Maria. Michael, will you accompany her on the piano?"

The boy nodded and took his seat in front of the piano, testing a few notes to find the right key, before beginning the song. Linley sang the song she had memorized years ago when she had the role of Maria in another production. For the second time that day, everyone was staring at her, yet this time it didn't bother her. When she was finished the drama teacher stood and applauded, "Lindsay will be our new Maria. Justin? Where's Justin? He's your Tony."

A tall, skinny sophomore approached the front of the room and smiled nervously. His new partner was pretty much royalty at this school. "I'm Austin; Miss Beasley can't seem to get anyone's name right. Miguel is Michael, Sarah is Sasha, I'm Justin, and I can't imagine your name is actually Lindsay," he introduced, trying to make a joke. It was true, Miss Beasley called everyone what she wished.

"Linley. She's close, but not quite there, though I'm kind of used to people getting my name wrong. It's unusual. I really didn't mean to come in here and steal someone's part. I would have been fine with ensemble or something," Linley stuck out her hand for him to shake.

He smiled, "You're not like I thought you would be," he said and shook her hand.

"How did you think I would be?" she was now curious about what the gossip on the street was.

He shrugged, "I don't know. You moved here a few days ago and rose to the top of the social hierarchy overnight, people don't do that. You became instant friends with Amelia Kane and had Daniel Kane chasing after you at lunch. Daniel Kane does not chase after anyone, ever. People chase after Daniel Kane. I guess people expected you to be a bitch. Also, there's a rumor that you're not actually Logan Echolls' daughter, you're his new lover."

Linley rolled her eyes, and thought about the rumors in New York, how she was on the run for killing her entire family. Now she was sleeping with her dad in California. Apparently she gave off the crazy vibe. "Not that I care what people are saying, but for the record, I'm not screwing my dad."

Thankfully the bell relieved her of an awkward situation. In journalism, she was given an assignment to take photos, which was fine, because it meant being able to use the rest of the class for personal time. By the end of the day, she was exhausted and quite thankful when the office ladies told her to go ahead and leave early, since there wasn't anything left to be done for the day.

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A/N: So, there it was, her first day of school. Reviews are wonderful, they keep me writing. Next time: uh... after school lol... no time jump at all or at least very little. There are still things that need to be done. But... there will be a cute Linley/Veronica flashback and a nice Linley/Logan moment. So. Review, review, review?


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. This story has been having a bit of a makeover of sorts. I've been working out where I want it to go and working on character consistency and such. A huge big special thanks to luvagdstry and sarahberah1121 who have been a major help to all of this. Uh, there is definitely more to come and I'm trying to be a little more consistent after this, so yay. Uh. I really like this chapter. So, read away.

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Chapter 9: Martian

"_Hey Martian, I'm sorry I have to tell you this way, but I can't leave and you have that biology test today. I hope you did well. We got a big break in that case this morning, and we're assembling a team to go undercover… It has me. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be a long one this time. It's good though; we can put the bonus towards your college fund, or maybe even take another vacation next summer. I need to go, now. You know the rules when I'm not around. Please be good. I love you." _Received at 11:14 a.m. on February 19th. Beep. End of Messages.

Linley lay on her bed after school replaying the last message from her mother over and over. _Martian_. Her mother was the only person who called her that. For years, she thought it was a lame joke that she would roll her eyes at, but now, now she would give anything to have her mother walk in that room and call her Martian one more time.

As she explained it, Martians are from Mars, and Linley had come from Mars. Well, a Mars, quite literally, which Linley would rather not think about. Her mother thought it was hilarious and Linley would always offer a sarcastic laugh before rolling her eyes. So funny. Martian.

There was a light knock at her door, causing Linley to sit up. Again, knocking, a little louder. With a sigh, she stood and walked over to her door, opening it. Perhaps Rosa wanted to clean in there but didn't want to disturb her.

Nope. It was a small brunette-haired girl with big blue eyes. Linley recognized her, but couldn't place her face or why she was randomly outside of her bedroom door, in the middle of her house. "Rosa let me in," the girl responded as though she could read Linley's thoughts. "I hope that's okay. I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."

"Sure?" Linley said, not really sure what the appropriate response was in that situation. No one had ever just shown up at her bedroom door before. Rich people were weird. Linley stepped aside and allowed the girl to enter her room.

She watched her look around, take in the scenery, "I don't think I've formally introduced myself. I'm Jenna Casablancas. I live next door. You know my parents, we were at your…" she trailed off, unsure if she should mention it.

Linley nodded, "Right. Nice to formally meet you. What did you want to talk about?"

"I think what you did today was awesome and I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anything, I've got your back. Well, more of like covert ops, like hacking into the school's grading system and giving someone detention or something. Computers are kind of my thing," she explained, continuing to move around the room. Linley could tell that the girl was a bit uncomfortable in her own skin and wasn't used to talking to people, but it was certainly charming.

"I'll keep that in mind," Linley said thinking of all of the possibilities of having a computer hacker as a friend. It would certainly come in handy.

Jenna moved back towards the door and stopped, "One more thing: I've known Mr. Echolls, Uncle Logan, my whole life. He's always lived next door, he was the best man in my parents' wedding, he's my godfather, and he's a really good guy, sad, but good. I don't know what happened between your mom and Uncle Logan, but, if she told you anything bad about him, it probably isn't true. I couldn't imagine him ever intentionally hurting someone without reason, so whatever happened, I'm sure it was a misunderstanding."

"She never told me anything about him, good or bad. The only thing I ever knew about him is that he's allergic to shellfish," she paused, "We were at this F.B.I. benefit, my first year going, I was six years old, the appetizer was crab cakes, and I took a bite, like everyone else at the table, and another, and I can't remember if I liked them or not because my throat started to swell up and I was confused and crying and couldn't breathe. I was rushed to the hospital and well, I'm allergic to shellfish too." Linley took a moment remembering that day, how her mother kept apologizing and blaming herself. It was just awful.

Jenna nodded, knowing Logan's allergy, "Why didn't you guys just ever come back?"

Linley shrugged, "I don't know. I'm sure she had her reasons."

"Right, well, I should go. I have a ton of homework to do, but I'll see you at school tomorrow," Jenna said, showing herself out. It was certainly an awkward conversation and Linley wasn't particularly fond of random people just knocking on her bedroom door. Perhaps she would have to talk to Rosa about that.

Was she allowed to tell Rosa what to do? She never had help before. Then again, she never lived in a place that large before. She missed their small apartment. It was warm and inviting, but the best part was they could be in completely different rooms, but still close to each other.

_Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click._

"_LINLEY ANN MARS! I swear, if you click that pen one more time…" Veronica said, the incessant sound driving her crazy._

_Linley laughed, "You'll what? Huh? You can't ground me, I don't go anywhere. You can't take away my allowance because I don't get one. It would be pointless to take away my cell phone, since the only person I ever use it to talk to is you… what else…" she challenged her mother to find a suitable punishment._

"_You're right," Veronica mock conceded, leaning forward on the couch to place the case file she had been studying on the coffee table. A few moments later she began drumming her fingers on the table next to it._

_The sound was annoying and Linley was having trouble concentrating on her homework, "Mother! Must you do that?"_

_Veronica nodded, "It drowns out the sound of your pen," she said simply, knowing she had won._

_Linley, however, wasn't giving up that easily as she began tapping her foot against the leg of the stool she sat on at the breakfast bar. In retaliation, Veronica began to hum. Soon, they were focusing more on making more noise than the other than actually working, neither one of them willing to call a truce._

Linley was sure that if she started clicking her pen now, no one else in the house would be able to hear her. Grabbing her mother's F.B.I. sweatshirt from her closet, she threw it over her head before curling back up into bed to listen to the message again. It still smelled like her, not just her favorite perfume, but her. She drew into it and was soon asleep.

She wasn't sure how long she had slept for before Logan came in to wake her for dinner. He stood for a moment in her doorway, watching her sleep, peacefully. It seemed that her demons didn't find her in dreamland.

If things had gone differently, Logan wondered how many times he would have stood in that same doorway during the past sixteen years and watched her sleep. How many times he would have sat on the edge of the bed and read her a story. Would she have begged him to stay up later, fighting off sleep for five more minutes, or been compliant: one story and straight to sleep? Did she enjoy jumping on the bed as a child? Would she scream out in the middle of the night during a nightmare or wake up and travel down the hall, asking to crawl into bed with them.

Linley stirred awake with the feeling that someone was watching her. She shot up straight, forgetting that her phone was to her ear as it fell to her lap. Disoriented, she looked around the room for an intruder and her eyes focused on the man in the doorway. "I fell asleep," she said simply, reaching for her phone to check the time.

"I noticed," he smiled, "I came up here to get you for dinner. I figured that we could make that a thing, you know, eating food together, if you, uh, wanted to."

She smiled and walked towards him, "I'm going to tell you a secret, now brace yourself, because it is a big one," she gestured for him to bend down so she could whisper it in his ear, not that it mattered since they were the only people in the house, but he indulged her as she raised her hand to her mouth, the sleeve of her sweatshirt well past her fingertips, "If you're offering food, I'm eating food."

He had stopped listening, "Marshmallows and Promises," he said without thinking.

Linley stepped back, confused, "Sure, I'll even eat marshmallows… I promise?"

"No, that scent, marshmallows and promises. Is that your mom's shirt?" he asked, noting the rather large yellow letters across the front of the blue material.

She nodded, "Uh, yeah, F.B.I. standard issue, one of the things I packed before I left, it reminds me of her, smells like her too. I was listening to this message that she left on my phone the day she… and I was missing her, so I put it on, you know, kind of like a hug. Look, I know it's stupid and lame and whatever else, but I just needed my mom, okay?" She was getting defensive and crossed her arms across her chest, unsure if she was trying to protect herself or the sweatshirt. "What if I forget her?" Linley asked in a small voice.

Logan pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her small frame, letting her cry and fight it out, dinner completely forgotten. "You won't. I won't let you," he comforted, forcing himself to be the strong one.

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A/N: Reviews are lovely :) Uh, next time: Day 2 of Neptune High. Lots more to come. You guys definitely rock and thanks for staying with me.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: So again, huge thanks to my lovelies who edited this and let me bounce ideas off of them. You guys are amazing. Uh, per usual, italics are scenes from the past... first one is sort of a flashback and the second is a memory, if that makes sense? I also kind of like this chapter, but I really need to stop saying that because well... I wrote it. Anyway, continue forth and read.

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Chapter 10: What We Used To Be

Entering the lunchroom, Linley looked between the tables crowded with 09ers and the tables scarcely populated by everyone else in their respective social groups. She noticed Daniel look up at her and pat the seat next to him as a gesture she should sit there. Amelia, however, was busy making out with her boyfriend to notice.

Amelia hadn't spoken to her all day, perhaps it was from walking away the day before or maybe it was the way she was dressed, but Linley didn't really mind having a day off from her. She looked away from Daniel and took a seat at an empty table. This was the way it had to be.

She pulled out her laptop and plugged in her earbuds, ready to do work. Of course, her study session was quickly interrupted when someone else sat down at her table. "I have something for you," she said with a smile and held out an envelope.

Looking up, Linley noticed it was Jenna that joined her and smiled. She picked up the envelope and shook it before feeling it and finally smelling it, "A pony?!"

Jenna laughed, "Well, no. How would you fit a pony into an envelope that tiny?"

Linley shrugged, "Could be a gift certificate for a pony." She opened the envelope and pulled out the pictures.

"My mom thought you might like these, they're from their last day at Hearst. Look how young our parents are," she pointed out, "My mom, my dad, Uncle Wallace, Uncle Wallace's roommate, my mom's roommate and your dad… and your mom. Wow, I never noticed how similar you guys look. Are you sure you're not some government cloning experiment gone right?" she asked, holding up a picture of a young Veronica next to Linley's face. "Creepy."

_"You know, this is our last day eating here together," Piz commented, looking at the group of friends he had gathered over the past four years. "We should remember this." He took out his camera and began snapping photos, the first few were mostly of people's hands pushing him away from not being ready, but eventually they gave in._

_Parker sighed, "Thank God. I swear this awful food has made me gain ten pounds. It'll be too soon if I ever have to eat it again," she shoved her tray away from herself, disgusted._

_Dick reached over and helped himself to Parker's fries, receiving a light smack from Mac, "What? She isn't going to eat them," he defended before shoving the entire handful in his mouth._

_"I don't mind it here," Logan said, bringing them back to their original conversation and pulling Veronica closer, placing a light kiss on her lips, "A lot of good memories." He picked up one of his own fries and dipped it in ketchup, bringing it to his own mouth when Veronica opened hers as a sign that she wanted that particular French fry. He smirked and placed it in her mouth instead before receiving a punch to the arm and Veronica scrambling off of his lap, reaching for her water._

_Everyone rose their eyebrows in confusion, "That was not ketchup!" she explained and Logan shrugged innocently._

_"What, I like my girl spicy," he said with a smirk, reaching out for her wrist and pulling her back to him before kissing her to make it all better. She glared at him once they broke apart. "I love you," he offered, with another smile._

_"You better," Veronica countered, "I mean, first you make me lug around his heavy rock on my hand and now you're burning off my taste buds, what's next, you're going to make me change my name?" she said, trying to keep a straight face, casually holding up her left hand and wiggling her fingers to show off the ring Logan had given her last night._

_He nodded, still face to face, "Yes I am," he said and kissed her again, ignoring the squeals from Mac and Parker at the table, all while Piz continued to take pictures to have as "memories," which he would later send out in a mass e-mail to everyone and Dick helped himself to Logan's fries._

"What's creepy?" Austin asked, sitting down at the table, picking up one of the photos. "Oh, my gosh, is that you? Who is the boy? Getting your freak on, I approve."

Linley took the picture back, "That would be my dad." He raised an eyebrow at her before she continued, "with my mom when they were in college."

"I'd be careful how loud you say that, because it does nothing to help squash the rumors of you doing the nasty with your pappy. I mean, they look like pictures of you and there you go, saying it's your dad… People talk, Linds," he said, picking up another picture and shaking his head.

Jenna threw a chip at him, which he caught in his mouth, "You are gross. Who would even say such a thing? Gross. I think I need to go and bleach my brain."

"Oh, sorry. Do you two know each other?" Linley asked, realizing that she had never made introductions.

They both nodded, looking at each other and mumbling something non-descript about a class or a sport or from "around." Linley shrugged and went back to her lunch before a disruption in the lunchroom caused her to look up.

Something was happening at the 09er table. She watched Daniel stand, throw his lunch in the bin and storm off. Her eyes then went to Amelia, who had her arms crossed and looked upset. Their eyes met and Linley could have sworn that all of Amelia's anger was suddenly directed towards her.

"Uh oh," Austin said, following her gaze, "Maybe you should just leave? You can hang out in the drama room."

Linley shook her head, "No. I'm not going to let her intimidate me. Besides, what is the worst she could actually do to me? Spread a rumor? Already got some of those going around," she said, giving a look to Austin, "Hit me? I'd like to see her try. They don't give black belts out to people just because they look cute. She doesn't scare me."

Jenna and Austin shared a look but said nothing. "Do either of you guys know where Mars Investigations is? My mom worked there in high school and my grandfather owned the place and I kind of wanted to check it out after school," Linley asked, changing the subject.

"Its downtown, I would show you, but unfortunately I'm on babysitting duty this afternoon. You are so lucky that you're an only child," Jenna sighed.

Austin gasped, "Way to be insensitive to our dear friend here."

"I'm fine. Really," Linley assured, "Besides, I could still maybe have half siblings or something, right? Eventually? I don't know. That would be weird. I mean, not that I have a say in that, but like to have siblings now? I don't think it would be the same," she thought about the possibility of having a younger brother or sister before shaking the thought from her head. It was weird.

At the lunch bell, the three cleaned up their trash and headed back into the school together. If the 09ers wanted to exile her, she didn't care one bit. This was tame compared to what the kids in D.C. were capable of.

As soon as she was released from office aide, Linley jumped in her car and headed downtown in search of Mars Investigations. Leaving the 90909 zip code, she soon realized that there was a completely different part of Neptune. The mansions and expensive cars were soon replaced with barely running clunkers and rundown apartment buildings. Somehow, even in the grungier neighborhood, she felt more… comfortable?

Finally, she found the building and parked in a nearby lot, marveling at the stained glass windows. The building was obviously old, but appeared to still be functional. The "Mars Investigations" sign was lit in the window, just above a "help wanted" sign. Linley shrugged before pulling the door of the building open and walking down the hall.

The door of Mars Investigations jingled as she pulled it open and walked in. The office was small but comfortable. A couch was to her side near the door and a desk, overflowing with papers, was in front of her. To the other side were a closed office door and a kitchenette.

"Can I help you?" a tattooed man asked, stepping out of the office and closing the door tightly behind him.

Taken aback, she was not expecting such a man to appear from the office, "I uh… I saw your help wanted sign."

He nodded, "I'm looking for a receptionist. Do you have any experience?"

"Uh, no. Not exactly, but I know how to answer the phone," she offered before a pause, "I'm Linley Mars."

Realization washed over his face, "Eli Navarro, I was a friend of your mother's. I'm sorry for your loss, she was a great woman. I owe a lot to her," he shook her hand before looking her over, amazed at her resemblance to Veronica. "Linley, that's a pretty name."

"Thank you. She was something else," she agreed.

They stood awkwardly for a moment, before Weevil broke the silence, "Would it be all right if I thought it over for a day? The position, I mean. It's not that I don't think that you're qualified, it's just…"

"I'm sixteen? I don't have any experience?" she questioned, having gotten that a lot at job interviews.

He shook his head, "Look, if you're anything like your mom, you're going to get yourself into a bunch of dangerous situations and I uh… don't want her… haunting me if something happens to you. Just… just give me the night, okay? I need to think over if it is worth it."

"Right, well, judging by that stack on the desk, I'd guess that you have a lot of work to do, so I'll leave you to it and uh," she walked over to the desk to grab a pen and post-it before scribbling something on it, "Here's my number, I'll be waiting to hear from you," she placed the post it on his shirt, "Don't lose it." With that, she was gone and he was left shaking his head.

Linley busied herself looking into the old Neptune High yearbooks that her dad had pulled for her, thinking they would be of some interest. Apparently, not only did he have his own, he had her mother's too. She flipped to the 'N' section in one of them to look up Mr. Navarro. What harm would it do, he was probably doing a little research on her as well.

Finding nothing of use in the yearbooks on Weevil, she made a mental note to go back and look more thoroughly through them before moving on to the internet. She found that Mr. Navarro was quite the criminal in his day. Interesting.

Having still not heard anything, she went ahead and looked herself up, just to see what it had to say. Previous addresses, nothing new there. Mentioned that her mother was deceased. Shocker. No convictions, but she couldn't say she was unfamiliar with the backseat of a police car; being the daughter of an F.B.I. agent certainly had perks.

"_Do you want to explain to me why Melissa Harold's missing jewelry was in your locker?" Veronica asked, standing in front of her daughter at the police station with her arms crossed._

_Linley shrugged, "Because I provided the principal with evidence of Melissa Harold's affair with Mr. Whiteman and she didn't particularly like that?" she said as more of a question before continuing, throwing her arms down for emphasis, "Come on, you know I never put anything in my locker. Why would I start with stolen jewelry?"_

"_Did you say anything to the police officer when he arrested you?" she asked. The evidence was circumstantial and nothing they could build a case on. It was a few cheap pieces of fashion jewelry sold at the department store in the mall; hard to make a case that Melissa Harold was the only one who owned such jewelry._

_She shook her head, "I'm not stupid. I know my rights, and I'm a minor. You can't question a minor without a parent present."_

"_Good. Don't say anything. I'm going to get this case dropped. They have no proof that you actually took the jewelry. There are security cameras in your school, right?" Veronica asked, already dialing a number in her cell phone to get this taken care of._

_Linley nodded. She was also smart enough to not get caught on camera putting stolen jewelry into her locker. Veronica nodded and in a few minutes, the police officers at the station were letting them go with an apology for bothering them._

While her "official" record was still clean, P.I.'s still had access to all of these sorts of things. Maybe one day she would ask Jenna to hack into the system and wipe the whole thing clean. That would be something. With a sigh, she pulled out her homework and began working. Not long after, her phone began to buzz.

With a smile, she answered it, "So, what's the verdict?" she asked, already knowing who the caller was.

"You're hired. Can you start tomorrow? After school?" he asked, unsure what he was getting himself into.

Linley could barely contain her excitement, "Sounds good. See you tomorrow."

Weevil hung up the phone and looked to the woman in his office, "I think this makes us even."

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A/N: So, review maybe? Yay for Weevil? I honestly almost made up a new character, some hot 20-something, but after persuasions, Weevil made the final cut. Right, so, next time: Linley's first day of work.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: So, I'm not revealing Weevil's mystery woman just yet, but all will come together in due time. I promise. I've got awesome people making sure that I do. (Uh, shoutout!) Also. Weevil and Linley are kind of awesome together, just saying. Not in a romantic way. Just in a life way. Enjoy my loves.

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Chapter 11: Pole Dancing

"So, you can start with these files on the desk her," Weevil said when Linley showed up for her first day of work, "they go in the filing cabinet against the wall, alphabetize them. Uh, any loose papers set aside so we can figure out where they go. I know it's going to be a waste of breath to say this, but uh, don't go snooping through them, it's confidential." Of course, she was Veronica's daughter, telling her not to snoop probably meant just the opposite.

He turned to go towards his office, the door still reading "Keith Mars." He just didn't have the heart to change it, "Oh, and if the phone rings, answer it and tell whoever it is, we're not taking on any new cases right now. We. As in you're not either."

Placing her bag on the floor near the desk, Linley started alphabetizing the folders on the desk. She didn't get very far before her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, begging for attention. With a sigh and an eye roll, she answered it, "What?"

"Rosa called me. She said that you're not home yet," Logan said, taking a break from filming.

"That would be correct. I am not at home. Quite the observant housekeep you got there, pops," she said, taking a seat on the desk in the small space she had just cleared off.

He sighed, "She's worried about you, you didn't call, and so she called me, and got me worried about you."

"I didn't know that was a rule. You never said that was a rule," Linley defended, absentmindedly looking through the top file folder.

Logan began pacing, knowing he had to get back to filming, "Would you have ever pulled this kind of stunt on your mother?"

Linley shouldered her phone, pulling the file to her lap, "Mom always knew where I was."

"Well, you need to tell me where you're going," Logan said, trying to control his voice.

She shifted her phone to the other shoulder, "I'm at work, I'll call you later." Linley ended the call and threw her phone on top of a stack of folders, taking a second to look at her phone background.

"_Come on, it will be fun," Veronica insisted, looking around the empty Metro car. Linley rolled her eyes and went back to her phone. Not much could be done underground, but the games still worked. "I am not going to let you waste an empty metro car on that stupid game," Veronica continued, taking the phone off of her daughter._

_She sighed and stood up, "Well what else do you want me to do? We're stuck. Again. On the freaking metro. I wish they would just fix these blasted things so they would quit getting stuck everywhere. I mean, you heard the man, it's going to be a half an hour, at least."_

_Veronica swung around the pole in the middle, "I don't know… entertain me, offspring of mine."_

"_How?" she asked, taking her own pole and looking down the empty metro car._

_She shrugged in response, "I already did my job, Martian, because of me, you exist."_

"_So, what, now I am forever indebted to you?" Linley asked, wrapping more of herself around the pole and facing her mother._

_Veronica nodded, "Now you're getting it." She fumbled a minute with Linley's cell before selecting a song and turning up the volume._

_Linley smiled as "Girls just wanna have fun" started filling the car. She singing karaoke with the song, before really getting into it and dancing, bringing her mother into the fun with her. When they finally got home that evening, she noticed the new pictures saved to her phone that her mother must have snapped while they were messing around. It didn't help that they were wearing feather boas, crowns, and glitter because they were celebrating Linley's sixteenth birthday._

To that day, it was still one of her favorite pictures of her and her mother. And one of the last. She died only a few days later. She's snapped from her thoughts when Weevil walks out, "Who were you talking to?"

"Oh, sorry," she responded, pushing her phone aside, "my dad called wanting to know where I was. It's kind of funny, you know, he missed the first sixteen years of my life, and then I find him and suddenly he's trying to be all "dad." Like calm down, if you really cared that much where I was, maybe you wouldn't have misplaced me for so long." She hopped off the desk, "Sorry, that was rude. He really is a nice guy and I'm glad he took me in, but honestly, I'm not six."

Weevil smiled, "You're talking about Logan, right? No need to apologize. Most days I still don't see what your mom saw in him, and I know I'm not the only one. I guess that's what happens when two people are meant to be together, you know?"

Linley tilted her head and Weevil stepped back, "Don't you do that. I swear, if 'I need a favor' comes out of your mouth right now, you're fired, you hear me, fired."

She laughed, "Paranoid much?"

"No, your mother had that head tilt thing down to a science and I am not letting you get away with it. You work for me. That head of yours is going to stay upright, and while you're at it, no hair flipping and no finger wagging, got it missy?" he asked, pointing his finger at her.

Linley slid off the desk, "Whatever you say, bossman," she looked at her phone once more before turning around to pick up the top folder.

"What's on that phone of yours? You keep lookin' at it," he noted, the P.I. business rubbing off on him.

She shrugged, "Just a picture of me and my mom, here," Linley said and handed him her phone so he could see the crazy picture of her and Veronica having fun on the metro. "That was my sixteenth birthday and we got stuck," she explained, opening a drawer of the filing cabinet.

Weevil saw the time on her phone and quickly handed it back to her, "I think you've done enough for your first day. Why don't you come back tomorrow and you can finish up the filing."

She rose an eyebrow at him, "Are you feeling okay? Or are you always this… weird? I can't imagine it helps with the whole 'blending in' thing. Besides, I sat there talking on the phone with my dad for at least fifteen minutes, the least I could do is stay fifteen minutes late to make up for it."

He shook his head, "No, I'm going to be closing up soon, anyway. I've got a stakeout tonight."

"I've got a key. I can finish filing and lock up after. It's really not a problem," Linley fished the key ring from her bag that had her mother's keys on it.

Weevil eyed her, "Where did you get those?"

"At the none of your business store?" she said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Listen, girlie, when you have keys to my business that I did not give to you, it kind of makes it my business," Weevil said, trying to reach for them.

Linley just shook her head, "Don't make me drop these down my shirt. Now, how about you tell me the real reason you want me to get out of here so quickly. I can wait. I've got nothing but time."

"I have a hot date, okay? And I want to show her the office. So, if you don't mind…" he said, gesturing towards the door.

She held up her hands in surrender, "All right, I'm going. I don't need that image burned into my brain," she said and headed out the door.

As she walked to her car, she swore she saw a blonde woman outside the building that looked exactly like her mother. When she looked back, there wasn't anyone standing there. "I must be tired," she rationalized to herself as she unlocked her car.

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A/N: Sorry it's a bit short this time. I just needed this piece to move forward. Reviews are always lovely. Next time: Linley+Daniel+Beach=?. Stay tuned.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Uh... things to know... uh... can't think of much. This is still the same night as the last chapter (I know it has been a few days since some of you read the last chapter, so I thought I would do a little reminder of that...) So, read. Enjoy! As always, thanks go out to my wonderful group of betas who help make this all come together. Cookies for everyone! :) P.S. I've decided that the official ship name for Daniel and Linley is going to be Danley.

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Chapter 12: The Danley Decision

Instead of going straight home, a scene caught her eye on the beach. Sitting alone on the sand in a wetsuit with a surfboard propped next to him was Daniel Kane. It was certainly getting dark and Linley wondered whether it was a good idea to be out there.

She hadn't seen him since he stormed out of the lunch room the day before and decided to join him on the beach. He didn't even look up when she took a seat next to him on the warm sand. "Are you okay?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He shook it off, "Why do you care?"

She was taken aback by his comment, "Believe it or not, I am your friend. I've been your friend since that day on the beach four years ago. Do you remember that kid? He was kind of scrawny, a little short, but he had a good heart. That's what attracted me to him."

"Yeah," he nodded, "I remember. Life was different then, though. It was simple."

"Yeah, it was," Linley agreed, "What's so different right now?"

He shrugged, "I have money, tons of it. And girls. Tons of girls, too. And expectations, you know I'm supposed to take over Kane Software, eventually."

"So, change it," she said simply, lying back on the beach to watch the stars come out. It never got dark enough in D.C. to see so many.

He mirrored her actions, "How?"

"Well, the money thing is easy: pretend that you don't have it. Get a job, open a bank account and only spend the money that you earn. The expectations, that's a little trickier. You should tell your dad that you don't want to take over Kane Software. He can start training someone else to take over when he finally wants to retire. Then, you're free to do whatever it is that you want to do with your life. As for the girls: perhaps you shouldn't have your sister scare them off for you. I think they cling to you just to piss her off. No offense," Linley sighed. She was not a therapist, yet there she lay, fixing problems.

Daniel lay for a while in silence, "You're not suggesting I get a girlfriend to fix the problem? That's what Mia keeps saying."

"Nope. It won't stop the other girls from throwing themselves at you. It's a game and you need to stop playing. They'll get bored and move on, throw themselves at another guy with an incomprehensible amount of money. Where were you today? You weren't at school," she asked, her eyes not leaving the stars.

He looked up too, "I went to Mexico, yesterday, after I left school… I actually just got back not too long ago and decided to catch a few waves before I went home."

"What did you do in Mexico?"

Daniel thought back to his short trip, "I did a little surfing, drank a little, scored some GHB," he said, holding it up, "Think it might be nice to check out for a while."

"Can I see it?" she asked sweetly, joining him in a sitting position. He placed the small vial in her hand and she held it up in the moonlight before standing and then running and dumping it into the ocean before he had a clue what she was doing.

His eyes widened and he chased after her, "What did you do that for?"

"It's dangerous and I'm not going to let you do that to yourself or worse, let it get out of your sight, wind up in the wrong hands and be used to hurt someone," she put her hands to her hips, challenging him to do something.

Daniel ran a hand through his damp hair, "You know, any other girl in Neptune would have offered to take it with me."

She rolled her eyes, "There you go again with all those other girls, Daniel. Make up your damn mind. Either you like all the attention they give you or you don't. If you do, great, go and pick one, make all her dreams come true, marry her and live happily ever after. If you don't, then just stop talking about them, stop thinking about them and pretend they don't fucking exist."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're jealous," he smirked, stepping closer to her.

She laughed, "Jealous of what? Those other girls? Please. Don't flatter yourself. Let's face it, you're not that great of a catch and you're a terrible kisser."

"I'm a terrible catch? Look at you. You refuse help, you're stubborn and you think you're always right. No guy in his right mind would want to put up with that all the time," he countered, thinking of all the little things that she did to piss him off.

She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him, bringing their lips together for a quick kiss. Daniel's eyes went wide and he tensed up for a moment from her unexpected actions before he allowed himself to relax into her. It was Linley, after all, the girl his heart had been pining for four years, and her lips were on his. She stepped away just as quickly as it had started, "Well, I was right about one thing, you're a terrible kisser. Seriously, my pillow is a better kisser than you."

"You caught me off guard, I wasn't ready," he defended.

She rolled her eyes and started walking back from the water's edge. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him, placing a soft kiss on her lips, an attempt to convey the feelings he's been carrying around for the past four years.

"_I leave today," she said, looking up at him as they stood near the water's edge on the beach. He was so much taller than her, despite their year age difference._

_He nodded, "I'm going to miss you," he said, taking a step closer to her and wrapping his arms around her._

"_I'll miss you more," she said, laying her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him. He placed his chin on top of her head; maybe she was the perfect height._

_They stood like that for a moment before he spoke again, "Nah, you'll move on with your life, forget about me…"_

_She took a step back and searched his eyes before standing up on her tiptoes, reaching around to bring his head closer to hers to place a light kiss on his lips. Their inexperience was quite obvious, but despite the awkwardness from their differing heights, sparks were definitely present in that kiss. "Martian! We have to go. Come on!" Linley heard her mother call. She tore herself away from Daniel and walked back up the beach, only looking back once before she reached her mother. Veronica gave her daughter a look but said nothing. They had a long plane ride back to D.C. to discuss what she had just witnessed._

Linley touched her lips in shock as they broke apart, "wow," she let slip out of her mouth, which caused him to grin. Before he could make a comment, her phone started ringing and she held up a finger before digging it from her pocket to answer it, "Yes, I'm on my way home," she answered, hearing her father's voice.

"You know it's getting dark," Logan said, looking outside.

Linley rolled her eyes, "Yes, I'm well aware, thank you. Is there something else you wanted?"

"Dinner's ready."

Seriously? Okay. Fine. "I'll be home soon," she said, ending the call and looking to Daniel, "I think we should talk about this… thing," Linley gestured between them, "Maybe we could keep it between us for a little while, see where it goes? I don't want Mia finding out from someone else. Just so we're clear, I'm not going to be one of _those_ girls."

He nodded, "So, at school tomorrow, I sit next to Mia, glaring at you across the lunchroom and you sit with your new little friends, talking about… girl stuff? Like tonight never happened," Daniel said, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

Linley stepped back, closer to her car, "I should go. My dad is waiting for me. Good night, Daniel."

She was about to walk away when he stopped her, holding her hand, "This weekend… let's get away. My family… we have this summer beach house not too far from here. We could go up there, spend some time at the beach, surf a little, test the waters?" he asked, wanting so desperately to hear a yes.

Linley thought about it for a moment. She would need an excuse to get out of the house, and obviously not staying with Amelia or Jenna, since they lived right next door. Could she just be honest with her dad and tell him she was spending the weekend with Daniel? Her silence caused him to frown, "Sorry," she offered with a smile, "I want to go, I was just thinking how I would make my dad okay with it," she waved her phone as a reminder of the conversation she just had with him.

"Think about it and let me know, no pressure," he smiled before pulling her in for one last kiss, knowing she had to leave. Linley nodded and caught his eyes one more time before heading to her car. Her dad was going to be pissed.

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A/N: So, a Danley kiss and a flashback of their first kiss. They're so cute. Yay. Uh... reviews are absolutely lovely. Seriously. Even if you just put a smiley face in the box. Or a frowny face if you didn't like it, it's your right. Or actual words. Words are cool too. Anyway... next time: Linley/Logan


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I'd like to thank my betas again (as always) for their support and help and editing and well... everything. Uh, not much else to say other than I really enjoyed writing the flashback scene and writing a little bit of dramatic teenage girl for Linley. Enjoy!

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Chapter 15: You Weren't There

"We should talk," Logan said when Linley walked through the door.

She stretched her arms above her head, "Actually, I'm kind of tired, I think I'm just going to head to bed. Good night."

He stood and stopped her, "I don't think so. Did you act that way to your mother?"

Linley took a step back and crossed her arms, "No, of course not."

"Then why are you doing it now? You don't tell me where you're going or when you're going to be home. I don't know anything that's going on with you, I guess you really are Veronica's daughter," he surrendered, running a hand through his hair. Didn't she understand? He just lost the one true love of his life and now the one piece of her he has left is jeopardizing herself too. Even though he hadn't known her very long, she had already found a permanent home in his heart, and God forbid something should happen to her too. He simply wouldn't be able to handle it.

She shook her head furiously, raising one hand to point at him while clenching the other into a fist at her side, "Don't. You don't get to do that. You don't get to criticize how my mother parented me because YOU WEREN'T THERE! She did the job of two people. She spent years working a job that she hated just so I could have a chance. She sacrificed her own happiness for me. She did everything for me while you were here, living the fucking life in your fancy house, driving your fancy car and having boatloads of money. So, don't, because at the end of the day, even if she was the shittiest parent in the world, you were still worse," Linley tried to control her voice, but it betrayed her and it cracked. She had had a long day and in that moment, she was angry. Tears flowed down her cheeks but she ignored them. Thinking back to everything her mother had done for her, every sacrifice she made while her "father" sat in this house made her feel sick.

Logan collapsed into the couch. It was certainly hard to hear the anger built up inside such a small person, directed entirely at him. Yet, his concerns were just as valid as her anger was. "I was worried about you. I didn't know where you were or who you were with. There are some pretty bad people who live in Neptune. I don't want you to get hurt, but you're right. I should have been there. I should have taken care of you and your mom. I should have…" his voice trailed off. The should-have, could-have, would-haves: they're the gateway to Regret Road.

Noticing how hard Logan was taking her outburst, she calmed a bit, moving closer to him and finally taking a seat on the couch, "I'm fine. I was working and then I thought I saw something… anyway… I passed by the beach on my way home and Daniel was there and I stopped to talk to him. You like Daniel, remember?" she sighed, thinking back to the image she saw earlier, hoping that Daniel would provide an excellent distraction.

He nodded, "Yeah, Daniel's a good kid… what did you see?"

"I just… you're going to think I'm crazy and you probably won't be the first person, I mean, Agent Weiner totally fought to put me in a psychiatric facility after mom died. Obviously that didn't happen. Right, what I saw: I thought I saw mom, when I was leaving Mars Investigations. It was probably nothing," she joined him in the living room, not getting too close.

A ghost, maybe? He had seen her too, but then again, he missed her deeply. He thought he had seen his mom after she died, too, and Lilly. He saw Lilly a bunch of times after her death. He knew Veronica had too. "Neptune is full of ghosts," he said simply.

"So, you think that I saw a ghost?" she asked to clarify. Maybe she really hadn't seen anything, after all, it was late and she was tired and between "seeing" her mother and coming home, she also had a very interesting conversation with Daniel. Her mind was definitely on the fritz.

Logan nodded, "Look, all I'm asking is that you let me know where you're going to be, okay? And talk to me with a little bit of decency? I am your father."

"I'll try the first half, but in my book, respect is earned, not handed out on Halloween," she smirked at him before heading up to her room to get ready for bed and work on some homework.

Logan allowed himself to lean back into the couch and took a sip from his drink. If she was anything like her mother, and he could already see that she was, she would be a handful.

"_Look, I'm not telling you to stay home and sit on the couch because I know you won't listen. I'm just saying let me know where you're going before you go chasing some lead and put yourself in danger," he paused and ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep his emotions in check, "It terrifies me, Veronica, that one day you might not come home and I don't know what I would do."_

_She stood across from him, her arms crossed, still in fight mode, "So what? In the middle of chasing down the bad guys, you want me to stop and send you a text that says what… In a dark warehouse, don't worry, I'm fine, be home soon, smiley face? That's not who I am, Logan. You just have to trust me here that I know what I'm doing."_

"_You know what you're doing," he scoffed, throwing his hands up, "Hear that ladies and gentlemen? The Great Veronica Mars knows what she's doing. Do you want to run by me again what really happened to your wrist? I'm not stupid, Veronica."_

_She instinctively shifted to protect her injured wrist. "I sprained it, Logan. It's not a big deal. It will heal. Next time, I'll be a little more careful."_

_He snorted, "Yeah, next time. What if next time it's not just your wrist? What if it's you, in a body bag? I can't take that, not knowing where you are or who is trying to hurt you. I love you, Veronica, more than anyone else, ever. I just… I can't go through that again, especially not with you." Logan thought of his mom and Lilly and everyone else he had ever lost and he certainly did not want to add Veronica to that list._

"_That's not going to happen, Logan," Veronica defended confidently. "I'm good at what I do."_

_Not going to happen? Okay. "You're not invincible," he said sadly._

_He watched her take a deep breath and look away from him; her eyes filling with emotion, which he knew she liked to hide. He loved her and he knew that she loved him but, did she love him more than her job? He heard her sigh and suddenly her eyes returned to his own. Apparently they were sharing the same thoughts, because in that moment, he saw her choosing him._

_Despite the control she displayed across her face, Logan could tell by the way she slowly uncrossed her arms, keeping her injured wrist closer to her body than she otherwise would have; he was breaking past her walls. She moved a step closer to him, "I guess, I can try to remember to text you… once I have two working hands again," she conceded, bringing her hands up and wiggling her fingers for emphasis, "and until then… spring break is coming up… maybe I could use a little vacation to allow myself time to heal properly?" Veronica offered, stepping even closer to him, running the fingers of her good hand down his arm until his fingers laced with hers and she placed an innocent kiss on his lips._

_He smiled against her lips, "I like the sound of that."_

Logan finished his drink and hoped that Linley would come around. He realized, at the very least, Linley may have inherited a few of her mother's trust issues and his absence for the first sixteen years of her life probably did nothing to help that. Picking up his glass, he walked to the kitchen to place it in the sink, thinking of ways he could earn his daughter's trust.

Logan looked up from the sink to the window that overlooked the backyard. It had a much nicer view in the daytime, but at night, sometimes he could see the stars' twinkling reflection on the clear surface of the pool, making it look magical. At that moment, however, he thought he saw a blonde run across the yard. Rubbing his eyes, he looked again and saw nothing.

Tired, Logan climbed the stairs to bed, noticing the light in Linley's room spreading across the hallway underneath the door. He was definitely seeing things and convinced himself it was his current state of exhausted and slightly inebriated that contributed to his delusions. The cure? A good night's rest, which was exactly where he was headed.

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A/N: Hey, you just read this chapter and here's a box down below, so write some words and review maybe? Haha... anyway... next time: Linley gets her first real Neptune case to solve.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: First thing... Apparently my brain took a little Vacay at the last chapter... that was indeed 13 and not 15 the way it was labeled in the title. I'm sorry about that. As always, a huge thanks goes out to my betas (I add the chapter titles after I get them back from my betas... so that was really all on me). Uhm. This chapter is also kind of really long. Probably the longest one I've written so far. A few notes: I've been told by my beta that the "check engine" light in her car doesn't chirp, but I've left it in because in mine, it does. In fact, that car dings and chirps at everything. Just the other day I was driving home and it kept dinging to have the passenger buckled up. There was nothing on the seat. I was annoyed. Anyway. Not the point.

Another note: Linley has a line in this chapter "I'd ship it" which I was also kind of advised to change, but I really like it, so for anyone who does not know what that means: Basically, Linley is saying that she would be a supporter of that relation"ship" That's all. Enjoy!

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Chapter 14: Playing Detective

The drive to school the next morning was a little more eventful that Linley would have liked. Halfway there the "check engine" light came on and started chirping like a bird trapped in her car. "Seriously?" she said under her breath, looking at the little light.

Well, Logan did say he hadn't driven it in a year; the car probably needed a full work-up. How could he let her drive such a dangerous clunk of metal? With a sigh, she smacked the dash, as thought that would help the situation.

It did, to her surprise, make the light go out and the dinging stop. For two blocks. Apparently hitting the car was not a permanent solution, not that she expected it would be. If it was that easy, mechanics would be out of work.

"_But mo-om," she whined like a child, something she rarely did, while crossing her arms and dragging her feet, "You promised!"_

_Veronica shrugged, taking the keys, "That was before the light came on. Look, I'll drive you to school in the morning, drop it off to get looked at and then once everything is good, I'll add the days I promised back, okay? You'll still get your week."_

_As a reward for passing her driving test on the very first try, Veronica let Linley drive her SUV for a full week, wherever she wanted to go. Veronica would not be driving at all. It was quite the incentive to pass, and it worked, but now, the SUV needed work._

_Driving home with her shiny new license the light had come on behind the wheel, warning of possible dangers under the hood. Veronica had taken a look at it, having some mechanical experience herself, but could not find the problem. It would be best to just have it looked at._

_Linley, however, took this as a sign that the entire universe was out to get her and she was being unfairly punished. "It's not fair," she continued to whine._

_Veronica shook her head, "I'm sorry, Martian, there's nothing I can do. Suppose it is something serious? I don't want you stranded in the wrong neighborhood. Sometimes life just isn't fair, baby."_

"_You're not funny, you know," she said, loosening her arms and adjusting her stance, starting to relieve herself of her bad mood, "I wish you would quit calling me that."_

_Veronica smiled and reached out a hand to fix her daughter's hair, "I know, I'm hilarious, and all the other kids on the playground are jealous of your hilarious mommy." Linley rolled her eyes and walked away._

Pulling up in the school parking lot, Linley's eyes went wide: that was the day before her mother died. The missing pieces of the block in her memory from that morning were coming together. The check engine light. The car. The autobody shop.

Her mother had dropped her off at school to take the SUV to the autobody shop to get the light checked out before going to work. Was the accident related to the check engine light coming on? Did someone sabotage the car? Was it murder?

The thoughts were quickly shoved out of her head when she looked up and saw her friend Amelia locking lips with a guy that definitely was not her boyfriend behind a dumpster in the back of the parking lot. Taking her keys, Linley got out of her car and walked over to them, crossing her arms and tapping her foot, waiting for acknowledgment.

Finally Amelia broke away and saw Linley standing there, "Can I help you?" she asked, looking her up and down and shifting her facial expressions from annoyed to slightly disgusted. Linley rolled her eyes at Amelia's judgmental glances, at least she didn't have blisters on her toes from uncomfortable heels.

"Nothing, just saying 'hi' before I walk into the school," Linley shrugged, looking between the two of them.

Amelia sighed, "This isn't what it looks like, you know," she defended.

"Let me guess, your friend here thought he might have a fever, so you had to check his temperature with your tongue, right?" Linley asked.

The younger girl sent the Hispanic boy on his way with a quick peck on the lips as an indication that this was a private matter before turning back to Linley "It's not even like you like Cody."

"It doesn't look like you like him either, just break up with him. It's high school, he's popular, no offense, but I don't think he'd have a problem finding someone else," Linley thought back to all the girls who draped themselves over Daniel. Daniel could certainly spare a few, and who wouldn't want to try out Amelia Kane's ex-boyfriend?

Amelia looked away and crossed her arms, "It's not that simple, okay? I can't just break up with him. I've tried, believe me, and he won't let me."

"What do you mean, 'he won't let you?'" Linley asked. That's definitely not the way that worked. It certainly wasn't a question.

Amelia grabbed Linley by the arm and pulled her further behind the dumpster. Linley could immediately tell something was up when Amelia's expression changed to one of pure terror before she confessed, "He has… stuff on me. Like, if I break up with him, bad things will happen."

"He threatened you? Mia, has he ever hurt you? Tell me now," Linley said, dead serious. She had her tazer in her bag and could probably find Cody in a matter of ten minutes and send a hundred thousand volts straight to his family jewels.

She shook her head, "No, he's never hurt me, he just gets so serious sometimes and grabby. He used to be so sweet, but he's changed. That's when I feel in love with Joey…"

Linley sighed and pulled her friend into a hug while she thought for a moment. She needed a solution: one that was permanent and definitely wouldn't backfire. Without knowing more about Cody, she couldn't do much and regretfully released her friend from her arms, "Okay, look, don't do anything stupid, got it? Keep playing along for today, after school I'll run a background check on this guy at work, see if I can find something on him to shut him up. I'll call you if I find anything."

"What happens if you don't find anything? I'm stuck with him forever?" Amelia was starting to panic.

She shook her head, "Nope, it just means that I need to come up with a plan B. Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

"Why? Why would you do this for me? I was really mean to you. I ruined your shot with my brother and I know that you like him," Amelia admitted, "I just care about you both so much, I don't want to see either of you get hurt."

Linley hugged the other blonde again, "Because you're my friend and that's what friends do. And speaking of Daniel…"

Amelia stepped out of the embrace, "I know. I'll fix it. If you want to date my brother, you can date my brother. Just do me one favor? If things go badly between the two of you, don't crush his heart. He's not strong like you; he won't be able to bounce back as easily."

Linley nodded with a smile. Somewhere in there was a compliment and she was going to take it. "I don't plan on it, but we'll go slowly and see where we end up," she said, giving Amelia's hand a final squeeze as the smile returned to her face. Linley could tell that Amelia was ready to go and take on Neptune High.

Having missed first period due to her impromptu girl moment with Amelia that morning, lunch came sooner than usual. One class and a new case to think about apparently made all of the difference in her morning. "Earth to Mars, come in Mars," Austin said, waving his hand in front of her face at the lunch table. She refocused her eyes and he laughed, "Welcome back, space cadet."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something, just a little research to make a small problem go away, nothing major. How's the mystery meat?" Linley asked, looking at the disgusting gray blob on Austin's tray.

For show, Austin shoved a large bite into his mouth, chewed and swallowed before answering, "Delicious. My compliments to the chef. I must say, this is the best road kill I've ever had."

Jenna laughed and nudged him with her shoulder as she ate her own homemade, meatless lunch, "The boy will eat anything, really."

Linley raised her eyebrow at their close proximity, "Looks like someone's getting a little chummy…" Austin and Jenna looked at each other, blushing. "I'd ship it," Linley said, after a moment's thought, pulling out her mother's camera and snapping a few high quality photos of the pair of them at the lunch table.

"You can't ship real people, Lin, we're real people!" Jenna declared.

Linley shrugged and passed the camera their way so they could see the pictures. The pair was quite impressed with her photography skills and passed the camera back, "You should submit those to the yearbook," Austin suggested and received a playful hit from Jenna.

"Calm down, I wouldn't do that. I'll just e-mail them to you guys later, when I get a moment to upload them," she said, putting it back in her bag to begin packing up for afternoon classes.

That afternoon, she worked quickly to finish putting away all of the files that cluttered her new receptionist desk so she could get to work looking up dirt on Cody. What would be so powerful that he would leave Amelia alone? Linley clicked through his record with a sigh: only a few minor charges for possession and underage drinking, which she was certain everyone at Neptune already knew about.

"Hey, do you think you could do me a computer-y kid of favor?" Linley asked into her phone when Jenna answered.

"What do you need?" she asked, knowing the extent of her computer skills.

Linley leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the desk, "Do you think you could get me the password to Cody's e-mail?"

"Yeah, probably. This isn't something illegal, right? My mom would ground me forever if I ended up in jail," Jenna explained.

"No, nothing illegal, I promise," she said, shooting upright when Weevil walked in the room, "I have to go. Thanks a bunch." Linley ended the call and placed her cell on the desk in front of her. "Good afternoon Mr. Navarro."

He shook his head, "I wish you wouldn't call me that."

"What would you prefer that I call you?" Linley asked, following him to his office.

He sat in his chair and shuffled the folders around on the desk, "Weevil, people call me Weevil."

Linley absent-mindedly picked up a knickknack from the front of the desk and fidgeted with it, "Why do people call you Weevil?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?" he countered, finding the file he was searching for.

She shrugged, looking at the little piece of plastic in her hand. Marvin the Martian. She had given one just like that to her mother when she was a child for her birthday.

"_Happy Birthday Mommy!" eight-year-old Linley said, running into her mother's room with a tray full of breakfast._

_Veronica sat up, awoken from her slumber by her only child bringing her breakfast in bed. She smiled and took the tray before patting the spot next to her in the bed, "Did you make this yourself?"_

_Linley nodded, though, it was only a bowl of cereal, toast, waffles (from the freezer), Poptarts and a glass of juice. None of it required any knowledge of cooking past pushing down the lever on the toaster. The question struck her as odd. Who else would have helped her? "You're silly," she said, reaching across and taking a piece of toast._

_Veronica smiled and pretended to be shocked that Linley would dare steal any of her breakfast. "You have to read your card," Linley insisted, picking it up from the tray and placing it in her mother's hands, "I made it myself."_

_She had drawn her own version of the planet Mars and written in huge letters across the front "Happy Birthday!"_

_Next Linley handed her the poorly wrapped gift, which was a tiny Marvin the Martian figurine that she had gotten from the quarter machine at the corner store. The owner, Mr. Soto, saw her looking at the machine and helped her get the exact one she wanted because it was "special."_

"_Get it?" she asked, "A Martian from your Martian, you can always have this one with you, since I can't be."_

_Veronica couldn't help but tear up at her daughter's sweet behavior and wondered how she had gotten so lucky to have such an amazing kid. "I love it, Martian. You're the best kid, ever, you know that?"_

_Linley smiled and leaned back into her mother's embrace, proud of herself for picking just the right present._

"Did you hear what I just said?" Weevil asked, breaking her from her trance.

She shook her head, "Sorry, I zoned out for a minute." Linley quickly put the figurine back on the desk figuring there must be millions of those floating around the world. Plus, this was Mars Investigations after all, someone else somewhere probably thought of the same lame pun as her mother had.

"Yeah," he said, taking a pause, "Do you need the afternoon off or something? If your head isn't here, you're no use to me, that's how people get hurt."

Linley shook her head again, "No, I'm fine, I'm gonna go sit out there and wait for the phone to ring. I can do this." She turned and left his office, closing the door behind her, before returning to her seat.

Picking up her phone from the top of the desk, she realized Jenna texted her the password while she was in Weevil's office. At least a search through Cody's inbox would keep her busy for a little while.

However, when that turned up to be not enough, she texted Jenna again, asking for his phone records. While she waited, she looked up his credit card charges and bank account statements to check for anything out of the ordinary. She would definitely owe Jenna big later, but right now, she was in the middle of bringing Cody down.

It was getting dark out before Linley made a decent break in the case. She had almost enough evidence to prove that Amelia's boyfriend was doing quite a bit of drug dealing on the side with some help from his doctor father. She just needed a few photos of him actually selling drugs to someone.

By the time it was fully dark out, Weevil had left his office once more, surprised to still see her sitting here, "Listen _chica_, you can't keep staying here this late. I do not need your daddy coming down here with his panties all in a bunch, fists flying because I kept his daughter out past her bedtime."

Linley rolled her eyes, "One: I don't have a bedtime and two: I doubt he would hurt you."

Weevil laughed, "Come here," he said. She got up and walked over to him as he pointed to a spot on his forehead, "You see this scar right here?"

Linley nodded, not impressed, "What'd you do, walk into a door?"

"No," Weevil said, shaking his head, "Your precious daddy kicked me in the head. I'm not having a repeat of that, so you need to go home," Weevil said, gesturing towards the door as he remembered that night on the bridge.

She rose her eyebrows in interest, "Why would my dad kick you in the head?"

"Why don't you run along home and ask him yourself?" Weevil said, gesturing towards the door.

Linley rolled her eyes, losing interest, before she grabbed her bag, packing up her laptop and headed out, "I don't believe you. I think you're just embarrassed about walking into a door. It's okay, I'm sure you'll find the right support group eventually," she gave him one final smirk before she was out the door.

Linley called Amelia on her way home, telling her the news. "So, I just need to finish getting the evidence and then you'll finally be free," she said happily, already thinking of ways she could get the photo proof she needed.

"How long?" Amelia asked, hoping it was sooner rather than later.

Linley shrugged as she made a turn, "I'm not sure, Mia, maybe tomorrow… maybe a week. Just be patient," she said as the dinging from the check engine light resumed, "Hey, do you think I could get a ride to school with you, tomorrow? My check engine light is on and driving me crazy. We can still keep up appearances of hating each other… I'll just cling to your brother and make it look like it was his idea… just until this whole situation blows over."

"You'll have to ask Daniel… he's the one driving and you kind of pissed him off by dissing him in front of the entire school. He's mad at me for telling him that he can't have you, which I totally changed my mind about for fixing this," Amelia reminded quickly.

Linley pulled into her driveway, "Okay, I'll call him later, I just got home. See you tomorrow."

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A/N: Reviews? Last chapter I had an amazing reviewer that made me laugh and was awesome and I offered this particular reviewer the chance to ask me any question about this story (aka spoilers) as a reward so maybe (and if you're not a guest because I have no idea how to contact guests) if you also amuse me in your reviews, you too will get lucky. Until then... next time: Daniel makes a proclamation to the ladies of Neptune High


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Thanks for all of your lovely reviews. You guys are amazing. Also, a huge thanks to my wonderful beta team. Uh... I don't think I have anything else. So... continue on.

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Chapter 15: Lunchtime Confessional

The next morning, rumors of a relationship between Daniel and Linley quickly spread around the school when they walked in together, his arm around her waist as they shared a laugh. Amelia followed a few steps behind, a practiced scowl on her face and her arms crossed, until she had the opportunity to turn down a separate hallway.

"So, are you going to tell me why we're suddenly public? Not that I mind… it's just you were singing a completely different tune not too long ago," Daniel asked when they reached Linley's locker.

She shrugged and entered her combination, "I'm helping Mia out with something and I needed a ride to school since my car is in the shop. But in exchange for my help, Mia has agreed to let us be seen together in public," she said with a fake gasp as she opened her locker.

Daniel rolled his eyes before changing the topic. "Are we on for this weekend?" he asked hopefully, looking into her eyes.

Linley looked away, "I haven't exactly asked my dad about it yet. I'll do it when I get home this afternoon, okay?"

He nodded and planted a kiss on her forehead, "Let me walk you to class."

By lunchtime, Linley was eager to discuss her findings with her friends and waited at their table for them to arrive. When Austin and Jenna arrived together, she gave them a curious look but said nothing. "Studies say that one in three teenagers has a drug problem," she told them, making up a statistic to suit her needs before gesturing as though she were counting them, "And I know that I don't, so, which one of you two has a monkey on their back?"

Jenna laughed, "You made that up."

Linley shrugged, "Probably, but I really need one of you to have a drug problem."

"I don't think I should be here for this," Austin said, "You know, being the son of the sheriff and all, I don't want to hear about illegal activity, then I might feel obligated to turn you in."

She thought for a moment, tapping her finger to her chin, "That could actually work for me. See, I need evidence that my friend Cody over there is a drug dealer and I was just going to send one of you over to buy from him, take a few pictures and threaten to hand him over to the police, but actually handing him over to the police might work well too."

"His dad will just get him out," Jenna said, putting all of the information together in her head. "He's a very well respected doctor."

"His dad is the supplier, if Cody is going away, so is daddy dearest," Linley said, pulling out the file folder with her research in it and passing it to Jenna and Austin to look over.

Austin looked through the folder, "Do you mind if I take this? I can pass it off to the sheriff. Election season is just around the corner and a big drug bust would really help remind these fine citizens of Neptune just why Leo D'Amato is the sheriff."

Linley and Jenna laughed at Austin's promotion of his father, "You do realize that neither one of us is old enough to vote, and I'm not exactly an official 'citizen' of Neptune yet… I still have a D.C. driver's license."

He rolled his eyes and put the file folder into his bag, "I'll give this to him and he'll take care of it. No worries. Now you need to give us the details on you and Mr. Moneybags and side question: why are you not sitting with him?"

Jenna turned her attention back to Linley, suddenly shifting her alliance to Austin. With a sigh, Linley threw her arms to her sides, "I don't need to spend every waking moment with him, you know. We're just testing the waters, seeing if there's anything there… this weekend at his parents' cabin up-shore."

"Bow-chicka-wow-wow," Austin said with a wink.

Jenna lightly smacked him for his comment, "God, is that all guys think about?"

Austin nodded and Linley and Jenna shared a laugh, "Seriously though, it isn't going to be like that. We're just going to talk and spend some time together. Mia still isn't the biggest fan, so I don't want to shove it in front of her face."

"Well, you can certainly shove _it_ in front of my face, anytime," Austin said, with another wink and a knowing elbow jab.

Again Jenna smacked him, this time harder, "Okay, you're done. Leave. Now," she watched as he tried to protest and she pointed away from them, "Now," she repeated. He sunk his head and got up, leaving the lunchroom in favor of the drama room like a child sent to the corner.

"You didn't have to do that," Linley said once he was gone.

Jenna shrugged, "Boys are like puppies, when they pee on the carpet, you need to let them know that that behavior will not be tolerated. Besides, he was being gross. Like really gross. Shove it in his face, really?" she ranted.

"_Mommy, can we get a puppy?" Linley asked her mother as they walked past the same pet store they walked past every day they went out. She pressed her nose to the window, looking in at all the adorable little dogs._

_Veronica shook her head, "Where would we keep a puppy?"_

"_On my bed?" Linley asked, hopefully._

_Veronica tried to take the little girl's hand to pull her away from the window. Deep down she also missed having a dog, but the city was really no place for them, "And who would take the puppy for a walk?" Veronica asked, knowing there wasn't a square inch of green for quite some distance and the sidewalk was not a proper place for a dog to do its business._

"_I would," Linley said, not budging._

_Veronica laughed and pointed in the window, "A puppy like that would take you for a walk."_

"_Please, mommy?" Linley asked, giving Veronica her most pathetic face, a face Veronica was very familiar with, having perfected the look for her own father._

_She grabbed the little girl's hand and pulled her away from the window, "Maybe when you're older, not today Martian." Veronica chuckled at the pout that formed on her daughter's face; she certainly had it down. Unfortunately, they could neither afford nor house a dog at that time and soon Linley forgot about wanting the puppy._

"I never had a dog," Linley said, remembering how she had wanted one years ago. Maybe she could convince her dad to get her a puppy, they did have a yard, after all, and plenty of room for one. "Or any pet for that matter," she continued, "My mom and I, we lived in this tiny apartment in the middle of the city, it just wasn't the place for a dog." Jenna nodded at her story, looking up at the commotion coming from the 09er table.

Daniel stood up, his hands on the table in frustration, Amelia next to him ready to fight his fight. He removed a hand from the table, signaling to his sister that he had this. The girl standing in front of him looked a little shaken, as though she had not expected Daniel to react in such a way. Daniel quickly glanced at Linley before climbing on top of the table and making a speech: "Attention all females of Neptune High, I am not now or ever interested in going to the movies with you, going out to dinner with you or actually going anywhere with you. I am not now, nor ever interested in kissing, making out or having sex with you. I am not interested in being your boyfriend, your lover or your chair. And I am NOT going to prom with you. This is your official warning. From this point on, it will be considered sexual harassment and my lawyers will be involved. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your lunch," he said and jumped off the table feeling quite proud of himself.

The girl, however, laughed and leaned into his chest, taking a look at Linley and winking before attempting to plant one on Daniel. He wasn't having any of it and removed himself from her before pulling out his cell phone and beginning to dial a number. The shocked look on her face was priceless as she stomped her foot and crossed her arms like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum, "You're not serious right now."

He nodded and waited for the lawyer's office to pick up the phone, "Hi… yes… I'd like to file sexual harassment charges against," he held his hand over the phone, "I'm sorry… what did you say your name was?" he asked her with a large grin, proving he was completely serious to any other girl wanting to try the same tactic. She stomped off in a fury, heading back into the school just in time for the bell.

As soon as school was over for the day, Linley met up with Daniel and Amelia for a ride back home. With her car still in the shop, she wouldn't be able to spend time at Mars Investigations that afternoon, not that she really minded. This would give her more of an opportunity to find the right time to talk to her father about the upcoming weekend.

"So," Linley started as Daniel began to drive home, "that was quite a show you put on at lunch today."

He laughed, "Don't tell anyone, but I wasn't actually talking to anyone on the phone. Luckily for me, she bought it and so did everyone else. I feel great."

"You, uh, forgot something, though," Linley said, looking out the window.

He risked a quick glance at her before refocusing his eyes on the road, "What's that?"

Linley looked to the backseat where Amelia was sitting before looking back to Daniel, "What happens if you decide that there is a girl at Neptune that you want to date?"

His eyes went wide with the realization of what she was implying, "Well… I'll just have to ask her out then, won't I?"

"Guess so," Linley smirked, "Hopefully she doesn't turn you down and call her lawyers. That would suck." She grabbed the door handle as he pulled up to her house and got out.

While Linley had other things to discuss with both Kane siblings, neither of those discussions could be held in the presence of the other, so she opted for a simple goodbye, promising to talk to each of them later before heading inside her own house. It was certainly an interesting surprise to see her father home in the middle of the afternoon, but she shrugged it off as she passed him on her way to get an apple from the kitchen, inconspicuously slipping his keys from the table near the door and depositing them in the fruit bowl as she picked up the shiny red apple.

The fact that his phone began ringing as he headed out the door, looking for his keys only made the situation better. She sat on the stool in the kitchen and watched him search for his keys while listening to whoever called him, "Can we have pizza for dinner?" she asked, starting her plan.

Logan nodded and waved a hand at her, indicating that he was on the phone. She took another bite from her apple and continued, "Can I go to the mall on Friday with Jenna?" Logan shot her a look but again nodded, moving into the hallway, still on the phone and searching for his keys. "Can I go to the cabin with Daniel this weekend?" she asked, slipping off her stool and moving towards him, taking another loud bite from her apple.

"Sure, fine. Have you seen my keys? I'm running late," Logan asked, shifting papers around on the coffee table in the living room.

Linley shrugged, "Can we watch a movie tonight?"

Logan moved the phone away from his ear, putting his hand over it, "Yes, Linley, now please, can you help me find my keys? My call time is in fifteen minutes."

She smiled and got up pretending to look for his keys with him, "So, my class is going on a field trip next week. Can I go?" she asked as she moved to the kitchen to grab his keys.

"Can we talk about this when I get home? I really need to go," Logan said before placing his phone back to his ear and leaving the living room, meeting her in the hallway where she had his keys on her outstretched palm. Logan took the keys and mouthed 'thank you' before running out the door, balancing his phone between his shoulder and his ear.

It wasn't until Logan was speeding down the road on his way to the set did he realize what he had just given his sixteen year old daughter permission to do. He stopped at a red light and hit the steering wheel in frustration at how easily she had outsmarted him into giving her his approval: in between pizza and field trips he had agreed to let her spend time alone in a cabin with a boy. If that wasn't the ghost of Veronica he saw before, he would definitely be seeing it now.

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A/N: Review? Please? You'll be like forever awesome (or until the next chapter). Speaking of the next chapter... Logan/Linley talk. Yup yup. Got to love those daddy/daughter moments. Reviews bring them faster. True facts.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: So, nothing major before this chapter other than thanks for all of your support. You guys rock. And thanks to the continued hard work of my beta team. You guys also rock. This is a fun little chapter that continues from the last one. Enjoy.

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Chapter 16: The Talk

"Oh, hey, I have to go," Linley said into her phone when she heard the front door slam shut, "My dad's home and he doesn't sound too happy… no, he probably just had a long night. I'll call you later, bye." She ended the call to Daniel before placing her phone on the counter and hopping off of her stool in the kitchen.

The pizza was almost finished baking in the oven and she had already poured two glasses of sparkling water to drink with the pizza while they enjoyed movie night. "I'm in the kitchen," she called happily down the hall, "Pizza will be ready in about five minutes."

Logan walked into the room and looked around before dropping the bag he had in his hand on the counter, "Sit," he said simply.

Her eyebrow rose skeptically before returning to her spot on the stool. She waited for him to do something, then rolled her eyes and checked her phone, "Are you feeling okay? You're acting a little weird. Granted, I've only known you for a few days and this could be your normal but if it is, your normal is weird, so let's go back to the other guy, okay? Awesome. Oh, look, pizza's done," Linley shoved her phone into her back pocket before slipping on the oven mitts and getting off the stool again.

"Leave it," Logan said simply before looking back to the place where she was sitting.

Linley ignored him and made her way to the oven. "I said leave it," he repeated.

"It's going to burn. There are starving children all over the world who are literally dying to have a piece of pizza. So, no, I'm not going to leave it." She took it out and set it on the stove with a loud bang before removing the mitts and throwing them down on the counter in an elaborate gesture. "Seriously, what crawled up your ass? You said we could have pizza. I made pizza." She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"I said sit," he repeated, not acknowledging her rant, face deep in thought.

Linley stood in front of him with her arms still crossed, "I'm not a fucking dog. You can try that again, maybe ask a little nicer this time or get whatever it is off your chest while I stand."

Logan let out a breath and began removing the items from the bag, starting with a large bunch of bananas and then a large box of condoms. "Seriously, I do not need to know how kinky you plan on getting with your uh… mourning sex," Linley said, rolling her eyes.

"We need to talk," Logan said, pushing the bag to the side, removing the pamphlets he had put in there earlier before looking to the items on the counter.

Linley's eyes went wide, "Oh no! No! Jesus Christ do you think I'm fucking the entire football team at lunch? Oh my god!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air in exaggeration.

_She sat on the couch, her feet up on the coffee table, working on her math homework and ignoring her mother's sudden presence in favor of attempting to solve the difficult problem. "So, Travis has been hanging out here a lot, huh?" Veronica asked, casually._

"_Yeah," Linley mumbled, not lifting her head from the book._

_Veronica scooted a tad closer, "Is there anything that you want to tell me about Travis?"_

"_Anything like what?" she asked, erasing what she just wrote in frustration._

"_Anything like how Travis is your boyfriend?" Veronica asked, pulling the book away from her daughter._

_Linley shrugged, "We went on a couple dates and kissed a few times, nothing major, no labels."_

"_I think it's time that we had a talk," Veronica pressed, knowing that neither one of them really wanted to have this conversation, but it needed to be said._

"_Mom, I'm not having sex!" Linley defended, crossing her arms over her chest._

_Veronica nodded, thankful for the bit of reassurance that she did, indeed, know her daughter, "I know, but someday you will, and I want you to be prepared."_

Lines of worry appeared across Logan's forehead, "No, and I really hope you aren't. You mentioned spending the weekend at a cabin with Daniel…"

"So, what? I move here and not even a month passes and I've already got myself a fuck buddy? Wow, good to know that my dad thinks I'm a slut. We were going there to talk. TALK. Have a conversation. And not the entire weekend. Did it ever occur to you to maybe talk to me before you decided that I wanted to have tons and tons of sex with every guy ever?" she turned and ran up to her room, slamming the door so that it could be heard throughout the entire house.

"_I'm not going to tell you to never have sex, but I am going to say that it is so much better with someone you really love, and I really hope that you wait until you find that someone. It might be Travis, it might not be, but I want you to know you can talk to me about anything," Veronica smiled, a smile different from the one her mother normally gave, more relaxed._

_Linley shifted on the couch to face her mother, "How did you know that you were in love?"_

"_Well… he made me happy in a way that no one else could and the thought of spending the rest of my life with him wasn't scary at all. It was comforting and he became the standard that I compared every other guy to, but I didn't even want to look at anyone else like that when I was with him. You'll know it when you meet the right person. It's okay to love someone and not be in love with them," Veronica forced a smile, taking one of her daughter's hands into her own and giving it a light squeeze._

Linley buried her head into her pillow and let her tears fall freely. While part of her hated to admit that he was just trying to do his job and be a good parent, a larger part of her simply missed her mother.

She missed her mother's kind words and gentle touch. She missed the way that she always had the answer. She missed the way that she was always there, even when it was inconvenient. Most of all she missed her mother's warm embrace.

Logan was different. He tried, but he took things too personally. He walked around like he had something to prove. Time and time again he proved that he didn't have all of the right answers, and sometimes, he didn't have an answer at all.

With her mother, their talks were fun and carefree, usually about nothing at all. With Logan, their conversations came in the form of boxing matches: each of them throwing verbal punches before retreating back to their respective corners.

"_Martian, I'm home," Veronica called, placing the grocery bag and her keys on the small kitchen island after walking in the door before turning around to lock it. She frowned at the lack of response, "Linny?" she called again, moving closer to her daughter's bedroom._

_Veronica knocked lightly on the door, "Linley, honey, are you okay?" she asked. Again she didn't receive a response and opened the door herself. On the bed, face buried in a pillow was her daughter, obviously upset. She moved through the room and sat down on the small bed, placing a comforting hand on her daughter's back, "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked._

_Linley shook her head and mumbled something into her pillow. Veronica nodded and left the room, causing Linley to sit up on her bed, hugging her pillow to her chest. Moments later Veronica returned carrying a pint of rocky road ice cream and two spoons._

_Indulging on ice cream somehow made everything better, "I caught him making out with Ashley Fields. Ashley Fields! How am I going to go to school tomorrow?" she said, taking another bite of ice cream._

"_You walk in, head held high and act like you don't care," Veronica comforted, sticking her own spoon into the carton._

_Linley looked to her mother, "Isn't this going to spoil our dinner?" she asked, referring to the ice cream._

_Veronica shrugged with a smile, "I won't tell if you don't."_

Logan knocked softly on the door, stirring her from her thoughts. Linley quickly sat up and wiped her tears from her face, knowing the odds of him having rocky road ice cream were slim. In fact, the odds of him bringing her an offering of ice cream of any variety were slim. "Come in," she said quietly, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

He stepped slowly into the room, taking a look around. Her room, or any other bedroom besides his own for that matter, was not a place he visited often. She certainly made the place look "lived-in," not messy, just like someone actually lived there. "I'm sorry," he began, pulling out the chair from her desk and taking a seat on it. "I'm new at this and I got it wrong and the reality is that this probably isn't going to be the last thing I get wrong."

Linley nodded, "Yeah, mom would have brought me ice cream and you, sir, are empty handed."

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings tonight. I just freaked out a little that you had outsmarted me and then I remembered back to when I was a teenage boy and I got even more freaked out and I just wanted to make sure that you were safe," he ran a hand through his hair, a trademark of his and let out a long breath.

She didn't look at him but relaxed a little on the bed, "I may have overreacted a little too. I'm sorry. Mom and I had already had _that_ talk. You don't need to worry about it. She said sex was so much better when it was with someone you love and she had this smile on her face, it went all the way up to her eyes and I want that. I want to be in love and smile with my whole face when I think about the person that I love and I'm not there yet." Linley paused for a moment, thinking back to that day, before continuing, "I didn't know it then, but I think she was thinking about you. She said the thought of spending the rest of her life with the person she loved didn't scare her, it comforted her… I'm sorry that you never got to have that."

Logan found it hard to keep his emotions in check. Sure, he had missed Veronica over the past sixteen years and slowly found the ability to continue living life without her, but he had always held out hope that she would, someday, show up on his doorstep. Now he was faced with a new kind of pain: the harsh reality that that wasn't going to happen.

He came to a conclusion."I'm sorry you have to go through this… Okay, I'll let you go to the cabin this weekend, but you can't stay overnight."

She gave him a half smile, "Thank you, Daddy," and got up, throwing her arms around him, placing a kiss on his cheek. He let out a breathy laugh, thinking about what he had just gotten himself into.

Closing the door behind himself as he left her room, Logan realized that Linley had just called him 'Daddy' and his face broke out in a large smile. Daddy. He could get used to that.

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A/N: REVIEW! Please? I read each and every one of them. I promise I do. Uh... next time: Daniel + Linley + Cabin = ? Read to find out. Reviews make chapters come faster!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: So, here is chapter 17. As always, a huge thanks to my betas who do excellent work. Kudos to you. Uh. I think that is all that I have. So, read and I'll see you at the end of the chapter.

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Chapter 17: The Cabin

The pair walked hand in hand down the stairs from the cabin to the beach. The sun was only beginning to rise high into the sky, meaning that they had hours left alone on the abandoned strip of sand.

She slipped her hand from his once they reached a decent way's out, bending over to smooth out her towel on the sand before kicking off her shoes next to it. "Will you do my back?" she asked, pulling the bottle of sunscreen out of her bag before removing her shirt. The bikini was new, one that she had picked out at the mall when she went with Amelia. While it wasn't overly revealing, like the others that Amelia had shoved in her face throughout that day, it certainly revealed a little more than she was used to.

He nodded and took the bottle from her, squirting some of the white liquid onto his hands before massaging it across her almost bare back. She held her hair on top of her head, out of the way, with one hand while the other worked a hair tie from her wrist to secure it. "All finished," he said, handing the bottle back to her.

After spending years on sunny beaches, Daniel hardly ever wore sunscreen anymore. Linley, on the other hand, had not, and was quite prone to burning after prolonged exposure. She finished covering herself in sunscreen before placing the bottle back in her bag and slipping off her shorts, another mall purchase with Amelia.

He reached out and grabbed her wrist as she returned to standing position, pulling her into him. With his other hand, he brushed her hair from her face before leaning in and taking her lips in a passionate kiss. Daniel moved his hand from her wrist to her waist, bringing them even closer together.

Finally, when the need for air overtook their desire to remain lip-locked, they broke away. "I've wanted to do that all week," he confessed.

She smiled, her lips still tingling, "Well, I must say, you have improved quite a bit. Good job." Linley looked to her towel below her feet and then back to Daniel before sitting down. There would be more time for kissing later.

Once she was content, ready to begin discussing the awkward elephant in the room: their relationship. Linley had already removed her sunglasses from her eyes, sliding them up her face until they were perched on top of her head. She wanted to be able to look him in the eyes.

It was more of an interrogation technique than anything else, but it was tried and true method. Eyes up and to the left: lie. She didn't want him to tell her what he thought she wanted to hear. She wanted the honest truth. "So, have you thought anymore about our last conversation on the beach?" she asked, leaning back on her hands.

"I told those other girls I wasn't interested, you were there, remember? Huge scene in the lunch room?" he said, letting out a nervous laugh.

Linley smiled, "I believe that you said that you didn't want any girl that went to Neptune High in that dramatic performance of yours. Seriously, though, bravo."

"I want to make an exception," Daniel paused, taking her small hand into his larger one, "I want to ask _you_ out, I want to go to prom with _you_," Daniel declared, looking into her deep blue eyes, "I like _you_."

She nodded, still not convinced, "What about your dad? And the expectations? Have you figured any of that out?"

He relaxed a bit, picking up a handful of sand and letting it run through his fingers, "I kind of like the idea of traveling the world, you know, seeing everything, learning about all of these other people out there; helping people. My grandfather invented streaming video which has been used to bring so many people of the modern world together; I want to help everyone else. Maybe politics, international relations, become a diplomat? Or join the Peace Corps or something."

"Wow," she said, quite impressed, "That's noble. Have you talked to your dad about not taking over Kane Software?"

Daniel shook his head, continuing to play with the sand, "Not yet. I wanted to work out the details on this plan first."

She nodded, thinking. Her life was only starting to be put back together and if she was going to continue on the right path, she knew she did not need to be getting involved with someone else whose life was a mess, especially if he had no intention of cleaning it up. However, she believed his words. "What about Mexico? And the drugs? I can't date someone who thinks using drugs like that is okay." Without missing a beat, she continued, "Here's why: Anytime you hand me a drink, I would have that thought in the back of my head wondering if you spiked it, trying to take advantage of me. Or anytime we go out, I'll be wondering if you took something before to calm your nerves. Anytime I get into a car with you, I'll be thinking about whether or not you're high. I can't do that and I won't do that."

"That was a mistake. It won't happen again," he assured her, "I want you to be able to trust me."

Linley smiled. Although she had prepared herself for the worst about this conversation, it was definitely going better than she could have predicted. "Well, it looks like now all you have to do is ask me out on a real date and hope that I'll say yes."

He leaned forward, over her outstretched body, cupping her face with one hand and using the other to gently bring her back down to her towel, "Will you go on a date with me on Friday night?" he asked, his lips just inches from her own.

"I don't know… I don't want to _sexually harass_ you…" she said and he knew she wasn't going to let him live that down.

"I didn't mean you," Daniel said, looking into her eyes. They were so close, him just inches above her, on the deserted beach.

She reached up and brought his face to hers for a quick kiss before answering his question with a simple, breathy, "Yes."

Making out on the beach could only last so long before Linley pulled back, pushing up on him slightly, "Look, as much as I love doing this, we need to stop. We only have a few hours left before we have to head back to Neptune and I want to make them count."

He sighed and rolled over next to her, "We could surf. The waves are great up here."

"Uh… you remember the last time I went surfing… right?" she asked, thinking back to their vacation to Australia. Not only did she have a major wipe out, she hit her head on a rock and had to get stitches.

Daniel laughed at the memory, "Well, there really only is room for improvement then."

She sighed and sat up, "Fine, but if I get hurt again, you get to be the one to tell my dad," she said with a grin. Daniel nodded in agreement before standing up, then helping Linley up, and heading back to the cabin to grab the surfboards.

After a few hours of surfing, Linley was just beginning to get the hang of actually staying on the board. Daniel, of course, showed off a few times and eventually their boards returned to shore while the pair was busy splashing each other in the ocean.

Looking at the sun setting in the sky, Linley sighed, "We should probably go dry off. My dad wanted me back before dark." Daniel nodded and they began swimming back to the shore, which quickly became a race.

Linley, of course, won, having had years of practice being on a swim team, beating Daniel by quite a bit. Sure, Daniel could swim, but his idea of swimming was more for the practical purpose of not drowning. However, once he reached land, he quickly caught up to her and lifted her off the sand from behind, spinning her around.

"Put me down," she squealed in laughter, nearly a foot off of the ground.

"I don't want to leave," he admitted, slowly returning her to the ground and allowing her to face him.

Linley looked up at him, "Me either… but this time, we're leaving together."

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A/N: Awww... They're so adorable. I secretly really like them. Review? Please? Uh... e-hugs to all of my reviewers? Unless you don't like e-hugs. Then you can have an e-cookie? Haha. Seriously though, I love reading your thoughts. They mean the world to me. Next time: Just another day at the office.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: So, I'm so sorry for the delay. I've been super busy with my new job and then super tired when I get home and I just couldn't get around to updating. But. Here it is. Chapter eighteen. Yay! Awesomesauce. Also, and I don't want to sound whiny or needy, but the reviews were kind of lacking on the last chapter and so I was feeling a little uninspired and unloved. Apparently everyone hates Daniel/Linley time. So noted. I'll keep that in mind. I thought it was cute. Shows what I know. Anyway, here is eighteen. I hope you guys enjoy.

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Chapter 18: The Lost

After a long Monday following a long weekend, Linley was glad to finally be able to relax at her desk at work. Sheriff D'Amato had arrested Cody and his father for their drug scheme, freeing Amelia to date Joey in public and allowing Linley and Daniel to come clean about their feelings towards one another. The rest of the school, however, was not as thrilled about the past weekend's events as Linley, Amelia and Daniel.

In the office, though, none of that mattered. It was solace. Linley pulled out the case files she had taken from her mother's safe over two months ago, to clear her mind of school-related thoughts. She wondered if the F.B.I. had solved what her mother was working on yet. Looking around to make sure Weevil was busy in his office, Linley pulled out her cell phone and called her technologically talented friend. "Hey… could you do me a favor?" she asked, situating her phone between her ear and her shoulder to free her hands to use the keyboard.

"What kind of favor?" Jenna asked, still unsure of the possible computer-related questions that could come out of her friend's mouth.

Linley smiled. "I need to reroute my IP address to make it look like it's coming from D.C. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Jenna said and began walking Linley through the steps of how to change her IP address. The process wasn't overly complicated for Jenna, but Linley didn't have nearly as much computer experience. However, given that Jenna was only fourteen, she couldn't just drive over to Mars Investigations and do it for her.

Once it was all set up, Linley thanked her friend and went to the FBI database. Normally she would have just signed in as her mother to gain information. Unfortunately, a dead person signing into her F.B.I. account would probably raise more of a red flag than checking it from California. Instead, she signed in as her mother's exceptionally incompetent partner, Agent Warner. Honestly, anyone with a password as easy to guess as his deserved to be hacked.

Typing in the file number, she looked through the pages, comparing them to the ones in the manila folder. It appeared as though the incompetent partner struck again, having made zero progress in the case since taking the lead after her mother died.

Running her fingers over her mother's handwriting on the pages, she realized that her mother never turned in her notes to the F.B.I. given that none of her ideas were ever followed up on. Apparently Weiner didn't have any ideas of his own to contribute either. Go figure. Maybe in the right hands, the case could be solved, giving her mother's death some meaning. Maybe Linley's hands were the right hands?

Just as she was about to click away from the page and put the files away, Weevil walked through the office. "What do you have there?" he asked, noticing the folders that she desperately willed to be invisible.

"Nothing?" she asked, straightening the stack to put away.

He eyed her before stepping closer, "Let me see those." He slid the folders from her hands, setting his empty coffee mug on her desk before opening the top one and reading the contents. "Where did you get this?"

With a sigh, she gave in, "I took them from my mother's safe before I left D.C. They're the files from the last case she was working on. I didn't want them to end up in the wrong hands and I certainly didn't want her stupid partner to find them, read her notes and take all of the credit for her work."

He shook his head, "I'm going to keep these," he said, tucking the stack under his arm.

"No!" she begged, "They're my mom's. Please, give them back."

Again, he disagreed, "No. Your job is to answer the telephone, not solve crime. Do you understand? This stuff is dangerous and you're too much like your mother for me to be able to sleep well at night knowing you have this. End of discussion," he said, picking up his coffee mug to continue to the kitchen area to pour himself some more before returning to his office.

He didn't stay there for long. Within fifteen minutes, he was walking back and forth in front of her desk as though he was looking for something. "Can I help you find something? Your sanity, perhaps?" she asked, crossing her arms, still angry.

"No, I'm thinking," he paused and looked at the clock on the wall for a moment, "I'm going to be right back… I need to step out for a minute. If that phone rings, tell them that we aren't taking any new cases right now. We: as in you and me. Got it?" he asked, giving her a knowing look.

She rolled her eyes, "Aye Aye Captain," she mock saluted, leaning back into the chair and propping her feet up on the desk. He shook his head and left the office, muttering something incomprehensible under his breath.

No more than five minutes after he left did a man in a suit enter. She immediately sat up, forcing her feet to the ground and then silently grumbling as she smacked her knee on the desk. "Can I help you?" she asked, faking a smile towards the man.

"I'm Frank Krowski. I'm looking for someone," he responded, his accent thick, walking closer to the desk.

"Who?" she asked, her interest increasing as she tried to identify the man's accent.

He took a seat on the opposite side of her desk, "My daughter. She ran away from home a few years ago. We had a fight." He appeared upset, though not outwardly so. In the years since his daughter had left, he had been able to internalize the pain. She watched him carefully, taking in his movements and carefully chosen words before leaning back in her chair.

Linley thought back to Weevil's words… He did say that they weren't taking any new cases… but that was in reference to telephone callers. This man was sitting in front of her. It probably wouldn't take more than a day or two to find the man's missing daughter without Weevil's help. "What can you tell me about your missing daughter?" she asked, deciding to take the case.

Weevil would never have to know. She could collect the money and add it to her savings account. Or she could get her dad something nice. She had missed sixteen years of birthdays, Christmases and Father's Days.

The man removed his hat and placed it on his knee. "Her name is Helen Krowski. She'd be 22, now. Here's a photo of her," he said, opening his briefcase and pulling out a picture of a young, blonde woman, leaning against a red car. "It's the most recent one I have."

"Is this her car?" Linley asked, pointing to the photo.

He nodded, "Yes, she took it with her. Packed all of her things into it and drove off."

Linley nodded, doubting that the girl still had the car. However, she could do a search for it and see where it ended up, giving her a better guess as to where the girl was heading. "I'm going to need a list of the names and contact information of all of her friends and people she would normally associate with along with any places that she particularly favored, like a favorite vacation spot or an old address. The fee for our basic package is $600, checks made payable to Linley Mars, but per our policy, should we fail to locate your daughter, you will only be charged half that amount for our services," Linley explained, pulling out a few forms from a drawer in her desk for him to fill out.

She hoped Weevil would stay wherever he was for at least as long as it took for her to get this man out of the office. He would not be happy if he found out she was doing business behind his back. However, it appeared that Mr. Krowski was also in a hurry, and quickly finished the paperwork and sliding it back to Linley before pulling out his checkbook and writing a check for the $300.

Standing and shaking hands, Linley smiled at him, "I'll look into this and give you a call if I find anything. As always, Mars Investigations appreciates your business." With that, the man left the office and Linley found herself something to do: looking up the missing daughter of her new client.

"You know, the doors have feelings too," she said, glancing up when Weevil returned, slamming every door in his path.

He was muttering something under his breath, obviously in a mood. Finally, he noticed her sitting there, "You should go home."

Her face twisted in confusion and she looked at her watch, "It's only 4:30, I've barely been here two hours. Are you feeling okay?"

"I said go," Weevil repeated, trying to keep his anger in check. He appeared agitated, like something happened wherever he disappeared to. Maybe he was a secret drug dealer, Linley thought, looking him over once more. "I need it quiet so I can think," he continued to pace.

Linley rolled her eyes and didn't move, "Well maybe you should consider not slamming doors, then."

"Well maybe I should consider firing you then," he mocked, not amused.

With a sigh, she gathered her belongings into her bag and slung it over her shoulder, standing up to leave, "When you finish PMSing, call me."

Thankful to have her car back from the shop, she sped home, wanting to continue her research on the new case she had obtained. It would, at the very least, keep her from over-analyzing her boss's terrible mood that afternoon.

When she arrived home, she was surprised to see her father already home, waiting for her. Linley threw her keys into the bowl by the door and dropped her bag on the ground next to it before kicking of her shoes. "I swear, if you're waiting with another jumbo box of condoms, I'm leaving," she called, making her way to the living room.

He laughed, "No, no condoms. I actually wanted to ask you something," Logan said as he watched his daughter enter the living room and collapse onto a chair in a dramatic fashion.

"So, my dear father, how can I be of your service on this lovely evening? Did a suitor come asking for my hand in marriage to join the kingdoms together?" she asked, continuing with the dramatic steak she was feeling.

Logan shook his head, "Nope. No suitors yet. Perhaps your dowry is just a tad too low," he played along.

"Eh," Linley said, sitting up, and breaking out if it, "Mom would always be conveniently cleaning her sidearm whenever anyone would come over. I guess offering a million dollars is a little nicer than shooting them." Truthfully, to Linley, a million dollars was an incomprehensibly large amount of money. Heck, a thousand dollars was a lot of money.

He also sat up, knowing they were edging into serious talk territory, "Only a million, huh?" To Logan, a million dollars was pocket change. He had grown up around money and inherited quite a bit of it. Now, as an actor, he made more than he could ever imagine knowing what to do with. To the Kanes, the heir of whom Linley was dating, a million dollars seemed like even less.

"That's a lot of money," she said, reaching forward to grab a few grapes from the bowl on the coffee table. She noticed that whenever Logan was in the living room reading lines, he liked to have grapes handy.

He swatted at her hand, "Anyway. As you may or may not know, the movie I filmed a few months ago is premiering this week. There's going to be this fancy red carpet thing in Hollywood for the premiere and I obviously have to be there because I'm the lead. I completely forgot about it until my agent called me this morning to yell at me. Long story short: Do you want to go with me?"

Her eyes widened in excitement, "Like an actual movie premiere? On television and in magazines? And I get to wear a fancy dress? And people will take pictures of me? Hell yeah I'm there."

Logan shot her a look about her choice of words but said nothing about it, "I'll tell Julia and she'll find a dress for you and send some people over to help you get ready a few hours before."

"Julia?" she asked, curiously.

"Julia is my agent; she takes care of all of the details about everything. She's been married to her wife for fourteen years and they have two children," he said, answering her real question before taking his bowl of grapes from the coffee table before Linley could steal anymore. "You'll probably have to leave school early to get ready."

"Whatever," Linley said, sitting back in her chair, trying to contain her excitement about attending her first red carpet event.

* * *

A/N: Reviews? Please? They really inspire and encourage me to keep writing. Without them, I would have abandoned this story to start another one that has popped into my head recently. Instead, I've put that idea on the back burner until after this one is finished. So, reviews mean the world to me. Without further ado.. next time: Where oh where has Linley gone? And why isn't she answering her cell phone. Review to find out. Love all of you. Especially my fabulously beautiful betas. Okay. I'm finished now. Thanks bunches to all of you.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: I was overwhelmed by the amount of love on the last chapter. You guys seriously rock. For that, I will present you with another chapter. A special thanks goes out to my beta who worked exceptionally hard on this one to make it happen. Yay! For the record, this was originally two chapters that my beta convinced me to turn into one. So, you guys should really thank her for that.

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Chapter 19: Bugging Your Child

Linley's lunch group had been growing recently. First Daniel had joined her table once their relationship went public, and then Amelia and Joey, who could not find acceptance elsewhere. The 09ers certainly did not want Joey at their table and the PCHers were not welcoming of Amelia. However, at the Island of Misfit Toys, everyone was welcome.

"Are you working tonight?" Daniel asked, pulling Linley closer to himself.

She shook her head, "I have that movie premiere thing with my dad. I actually have to leave early today to get ready for my debut into society." She laughed and took a drink of her water, "Just wait guys, by Monday morning, this beautiful face is going to be on the cover of every tabloid." With that thought, Linley made a mental note to research her father's history of gracing the cover of said gossip rags.

"Will I get to see you after?" he asked, hopefully.

"Probably not… It'll be too late. Don't worry… I won't find some hot young A-lister and upgrade. Their abs are probably fake anyway," she laughed and then noticed her phone buzzing.

Linley picked up the device, holding up a finger to her group before stepping away from the table to answer it. "Hello?"

"Uh… hi… you're the one that was looking for Helen, right?" the man on the other end asked, "You asked me to call you if I saw her?"

Linley smiled, it was the lead she had been following, "Yes. Did she show up?" she asked, preparing to take down any information the man would give her.

"About five minutes ago, she pulled up," he responded, casually. His accent was thick, though Linley couldn't put a finger on exactly where she had heard a similar accent before.

"Is she still there?" she asked, mentally calculating how long it would take to drive there: fifteen minutes tops.

There was a pause before the man responded, "Yeah."

"Okay, I'm going to leave now. If she tries to leave, stall her. I'll be there as soon as possible." Linley ended the call and headed back to her lunch table to collect her things.

Amelia gave her a curious look, "Don't you have dress fittings this afternoon?"

"Yes, and if I leave now, I should be back in like 45 minutes, just enough time to be fashionably late to the fitting. I just want to talk to her. Maybe I can convince her to return on her own," she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and cleaning up her tray before placing a light kiss on Daniel's cheek and heading out.

No more than fifteen minutes later, she pulled into a quiet, suburban neighborhood and began searching for the house that supposedly belonged to Helen. The case had been simple enough, nothing she couldn't handle and she began to question Weevil's judgment as she wove her way through the neighborhood. Who did he think he was, telling her she couldn't handle cases on her own?

Finally locating the house, she parked out front and looked up at it before reaching a hand into her bag to feel for her tazer. A girl could never be too safe. Unlocking her doors, she looked around before stepping out of the car.

As quickly as she had gotten out of the car, she found herself on the ground, her head throbbing painfully. Pulling herself together, she kicked her attacker, bringing him down with her before standing up, ready to fight. As she reached into her bag for her tazer another man came from behind and knocked her in the back of her head.

Instinctively, she elbowed backward into his gut, trying her best to ignore the pounding in her head. By this time the first guy had gotten up and grabbed her. Unfortunately for Linley, he was much stronger, and she couldn't break free of his grasp.

The second guy came over and placed a gloved hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming while injecting something into her neck. Linley was able to get in one last good kick to his family jewels before succumbing to the drug now taking over her system.

The pair of men checked to make sure she was fully unconscious before tying her up and throwing her into the trunk of her own car. "She's a fighter… just like her mother was," the first guy laughed, slipping into the driver's seat.

"A big pain in the ass, too," the other agreed, getting in the passenger side. "Who does that? Kicks a guy like that? The little bitch. Boss will definitely be happy to see this one."

They sped off out of the neighborhood, quickly cutting across town to their destination.

Twenty minutes after Linley was supposed to show up to try on dresses, Julia became annoyed and called Logan, "I thought you said that she was going to be here? Where is she?" Julia questioned, aggravated at the situation.

"Calm down, she's probably just running a little late. She does that sometimes," Logan said, fumbling with his own tuxedo. Seriously, who decided that dressing like a penguin was a fashion statement? Why did he even have to wear one of these getups for a movie? Only in Hollywood did they care how much money you spent on your outfit to see a movie.

Julia wasn't having any of it, "Call her. I want her here twenty minutes ago."

He rolled his eyes and held up the scrap of fabric that was to become his bowtie for the evening before flinging it across the bed. "She probably had a test at school and couldn't leave early. I'll call her, okay?" He hung up the phone and discarded it onto the bed with his bowtie.

Logan wanted to give Linley the benefit of the doubt. They had talked about her running off and doing dangerous things without telling him where she was going. He thought he had gotten through to her and accusing her of such might do more harm than good.

Yet, his daughter was not where she was supposed to be. And that concerned him. Finally giving in, he picked his phone up off the bed and dialed her number. At the very least he could remind her to be where she was supposed to be.

He listened to it ring, once, twice, three times before a chipper voice filled his ear, "_You've reached Linley's phone. She can't answer right now because she's decided she's too cool to take any calls, including the ones FROM HER MOTHER. Leave a message._" Logan dropped his phone at the unexpected sound of Veronica's voice. Was this really the first time he had ever reached Linley's voicemail?

Distracted for a moment by the sound of her voice, Logan bent down to pick up his phone, hitting redial to hear it again, before taking a seat on the floor. On the second time around he smiled at the faint sounds of Linley struggling to take her phone from Veronica. By the third time, Logan realized that this was some form of punishment for Linley, possibly for not answering the phone when Veronica called.

"_What are you doing?" Linley asked, coming from the shower and seeing her phone in her mother's hand. Her eyes darted between her phone and her mother's face. Instincts taking over, Linley dropped the towel she was using to dry her hair before darting to wrestle the phone from her mother's hand._

_Veronica pushed her away and held the phone above her head, not that it was much of an advantage, considering their similar heights. "I called you six times today. Six. Do you know what I heard each time? 'Here's Linley with today's inspirational message…' Do you know what I didn't hear? 'Hey Mom, I'm running late… Hey Mom, I lost track of time… Hey Mom, I'm fine…' Do you know what that does to me?"_

_Linley rolled her eyes and tried to take her phone again, "You're overreacting. Your job has gone to your brain. Just because you deal with crazy psycho killers all day doesn't mean one is after me."_

_Veronica turned around and used her body to shield the phone as she pressed a few buttons to change Linley's voicemail. Linley realized what was happening and began to fight back, trying again to take her phone from her mother's grasp as she changed the message and failing._

_When she was finished, Veronica held the phone out to her daughter, "One condition: I never have to listen to that message. Ever. And if I do… I'll pull you from the play. Do you understand?"_

_Linley nodded and took her phone back, grumbling a smart comment under her breath. Clearly something had happened at work that morning that caused her mother's bad mood and now it was affecting her life._

Three times the call went to voicemail. Logan looked at the time and noted that school didn't end for another hour and figured she got held up by something at school. He put his phone down and stood, needing to ready himself for the night's events. He decided he would call her again after school was over.

…

Checking his watch for what seemed like the millionth time, Logan tried Linley's cell again. Voicemail. School should have been out a half an hour ago, which was plenty of time for her to arrive at the boutique where she was _supposed_ to be. After another quick call to an increasingly irate Julia, she confirmed that Linley never showed.

Frantic, Logan began pacing the room in his stunning tuxedo, ready for the night's events. However, the more pressing issue on his mind was the location of his missing daughter. What options did he have?

Her friends? Maybe she told one of them where she was going? Daniel? Amelia? Jenna? Making a quick mental decision, he bolted down the stairs and out of the house in a mad dash for the Casablancas' house. Of the three, Jenna would be the one least likely to lie to him and it would put him closer to Mac's computer skills.

He frantically knocked on the wooden door while simultaneously ringing the doorbell several times. "Mac!" he called impatiently, "MAC!"

"Logan!" Mac hissed, stepping outside and closing the door behind her, "I just got Benji down for a nap, he's been driving me crazy all afternoon and I'm not going to let you wake him up! Wait… don't you have that thing tonight?"

Logan looked away, "Linley's missing."

"What?" Mac asked, crossing her arms, looking directly at him, "What do you mean missing?"

He shrugged and raised an arm up to lean against the house, "She was supposed to leave school early today to try on dresses with Julia to wear tonight and Julia's been calling me saying that she never showed up. I thought maybe she had a test or something in her last class and couldn't get away. Did Jenna say anything?"

Mac eyed him curiously, "Linley's last class is office aid." She paused at the curious look Logan gave her, "I looked up her schedule on the school database. Sue me." Mac shot him a not-very-threatening glare before laughing, "Anyway, I don't recall them giving very many tests in there, Logan. Come in," she said, opening the front door and stepping aside to allow Logan entry, "but be quiet."

"Oh, Jenna," Mac said, noticing her daughter about to head upstairs. Jenna looked up and removed one of the earbuds from her ears. "Did you see Linley after school today?"

Jenna shook her head, "She left at lunch, something about a lead on a case she was working on that she wanted to check out, and then she was going to go get ready for the premiere. Why? Did something happen?" She looked between Logan and her mother, noticing the worried expressions on their faces, "Oh, I _know_ I shouldn't have let her go alone."

"Maybe she got lost," Mac reasoned, not wanting to upset her daughter, "I'm going to go see if I can get the GPS off of her car or cell phone or something." She grabbed Logan and dragged him off to her office, allowing Jenna to continue what she was doing.

Logan paced the small room, making Mac nervous, "What if she doesn't have her phone on her? What if she's not near the car? Anyone could have taken her. There are a ton of people out there wanting to hurt me."

Mac sighed as she typed on the computer, remembering a conversation she had with Veronica a few years ago.

"_I really think you should do it, Mac," Veronica said into the phone as Mac sat in the silent serenity of her office, one hand resting on her very pregnant stomach._

_She shook her head, "I don't know Veronica. What happens when she finds out?"_

"_She'll get over it. She has to know it's for her own good. What if something happened?" Veronica tried to reason._

_Mac was still unsure, "It seems a little deceptive. What did Linley say when you gave it to her?"_

"_She thought the necklace was beautiful. It's just a simple heart on a silver chain. She has no idea that I put a bug inside of it. You should have one made for Jenna. Mac, I'm worried. With the launch of your software coming up, you're bound to make a few enemies," her voice was full of concern._

_Mac thought for a moment, "I can't believe you bugged your own daughter. I thought 'new' Veronica was supposed to be more trusting."_

"_I do trust her. It's the millions of creeps that I interact with every day that I don't trust. I deal with parents of missing kids every day; kids that will probably never be found…" Veronica's voice trailed off and for a second Mac thought their connection might have gone bad, but realized that Veronica's job was really getting to her. Dealing with the scum of society every day couldn't be easy._

_She sighed, "She has a cell phone, it has GPS in it, I could always track that," Mac conceded._

"_You know, a lot of parents say that, and everyone knows that these fancy phones nowadays have tracking devices in them, so these criminals search the kids and dump them first. A necklace, however, just looks like a fashion choice, not a life line." Mac didn't want to ask about the case Veronica was currently working on; she didn't have to._

_After a pause, she finally replied, "I'll think about it, okay? I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have a deadline to meet for this update. Do you think maybe I could call you back next week, sometime?"_

"Her necklace," Mac finally said, pulling up the information she needed, "Veronica gave Linley a bugged necklace as a gift. She was afraid that someone might want to hurt Linley. She called it a life line, Logan. At the time, I thought that she was just working another kidnapping case, but now… I don't know. My point is: Veronica was right. If someone kidnapped Linley, they wouldn't think that a bug would be in her necklace."

Within seconds, Mac had the location of Linley's necklace on the screen. It was not Logan's house, school, nor the boutique where she was supposed to meet Julia. The flashing dot on the screen was also not moving, meaning for the time being, Linley was stationary.

Logan jumped up, seeing the address and punched it into his own phone before heading out the door. "Logan, wait!" Mac called after him, but he was already gone. In seconds she heard his car screeching down the street. With an eye roll, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed a far too familiar number.

Thankfully he answered on the first ring, "Weevil, we've got a problem," she said before explaining the whole story as she made her way to Mars Investigations to meet him.

Linley woke up feeling stiff and uncomfortable. Trying to open her eyes, she realized that she was blindfolded. Slowly, the memory of what happened before she lost consciousness returned; Attacked, injected with something, and now it appeared that she had been taken somewhere.

She struggled against the binds that held her to the chair. Both hands and feet were tied, a gag in her mouth and a blindfold across her eyes. "Well, look who's awake," a voice said from behind her. Linley could hear the sound of shoes shuffling across the floor moving closer to her before the blindfold was ripped from her face. "Good morning, sleeping beauty."

He walked around until he was in front of her, crouching down to her level, "Now, I'm going to remove the gag from your mouth, because I need to ask you a few questions, but, if you scream, you'll be punished." He stood, adding coldly, "Not that anyone could hear you anyway."

Carefully, he removed the gag from her mouth and out of instinct, Linley screamed. Per his warning, he slapped her across the face. "If you do it again, it will be much worse than that," he said, picking up a hammer from the table next to him and gently raising and lowering it onto his palm.

She glared up at him and screamed again in challenge. Someone would hear her. Someone _had_ to hear her. In the same instant, he struck her shin with the hammer, leaving an ugly, bloody dent in her leg. "Are you finished? I can go all day," he smirked.

Trying to hold the tears back from the pain she nodded, actually scared for her life, "Good. Now you know what punishment feels like. For every unsatisfactory answer you give, you will be punished. Do you understand?" he asked, getting ready with the hammer again.

"Y-yes," she answered, not breaking eye contact with him.

He smiled, "First question: Where is your daddy tonight?"

Linley hesitated when she heard a crash from below, resulting in another blow to the leg. She tried to remain strong, but the tears were flowing freely down her cheeks as she bit her lip to keep from screaming out.

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A/N: Ouch, right? Reviews or Linley gets it... lol. Seriously though, I love reviews. I love reading your thoughts. Next time: Will someone find poor little Linley?


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: I am sooooo sorry for the long wait for this chapter and for that, I've made sure it is exceptionally long. But, I did notice a few new people started reading so yay! Welcome all you new readers. Hopefully you are all caught up (and have made it) to this point. Thanks again to my wonderful beta who spent so many long hours helping me literally put this together, you are amazing love. All right, I've made you wait long enough, so, without further ado (can we get a drumroll or something here? No. Okay).

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Chapter 20: How the Good Have Fallen

"_I need a favor," Veronica smiled, tilting her head as she stood in the doorway of Weevil's office, taking in the sight that used to be her father's._

_Weevil looked up, momentarily in shock, before letting out a light chuckle, "It's been a long time since I've heard those words." He stood and made his way over, giving the blonde a quick squeeze before looking her up and down. "What brings you to town?"_

"_I. Need. A. Favor?" she repeated, over-annunciating each word, "Am I still speaking English? Yo necesito un favor?"_

_He laughed again and closed the door to his office before gesturing for her to have a seat. "What do I get out of this?" he asked, his tone light as he gave his old friend a hard time._

_She slipped a picture across the desk, "The opportunity to return the favors I did for you? The satisfaction of knowing that you helped give this little girl her mother back?"_

_Weevil picked up the picture and stared at it, "You're a mom, V?"_

_She nodded, "Sixteen years last week. Her name is Linley and before her, I never thought I could love another person so much that I would pretend to be dead, sneak clear across the country, and sit here, asking you for a favor, to protect her. The opportunity arose when my car exploded as someone tried to steal it and I ran with it. I ran all the way here," Veronica said, taking the picture of Linley back and smiling at it._

"_So, she's Logan's, then?" Weevil asked, momentarily putting the serious concerns on the back burner. "Does he know?"_

_Veronica shook her head, "He doesn't know and I'd like to keep it that way. Logan doesn't want her. I'm only here to take out the person threatening my daughter's life and then go home to her. That's it. No one else can know that I was here. I'm supposed to be dead, remember?"_

_Weevil nodded, "Anything you need. Oh, and, if you decide that you miss Neptune while you're here, just remember: there's always room for you at Mars Investigations. I'm not just saying that because you technically own the place," he finished, standing to escort her out._

"_I'll be back tomorrow at dark. When everyone's gone, turn the lights off. That will be my signal, okay?" she said, getting ready to leave. Weevil nodded and gave her a parting hug, still glad to see his old friend, even if trouble always seemed to have a way of following her._

…

Veronica crouched behind the stack of boxes in the back of the warehouse, listening. Her gun was cocked and ready to go, should she need it. Unlike her younger self, she preferred to wait until she knew the full situation before acting.

There were two men who appeared to be lookouts on the other side of the boxes, and from her angle, she wanted to say six or seven in the office upstairs, all carrying weapons. There was a side room with at least two more guarding her daughter.

Sensing the stillness, Veronica thought she could easily make a dash for the back staircase and make it to the second room before anyone saw her. However, the piercing screams that echoed throughout the warehouse sent shivers down her spine and distracted her for a moment. This wasn't just a case anymore, this was personal.

…

"_So," Weevil started, a few months after Veronica had originally arrived in town, "You'll never guess who showed up here today, wanting the receptionist's position," he said, picking up his burger to take a bite._

"_Who?" Veronica asked, dipping her fry in ketchup._

_He frowned, "Your daughter, Linley. She was here today. I thought you said she was in New York, with Wallace?"_

_Veronica nodded, "So did I. Crap. She must have found out that Logan is her dad. What did you tell her?"_

"_About what?"_

"_The job?" Veronica asked, giving him a look that said 'Are we in the same conversation?'_

_Weevil nodded, "I told her I had to think about it."_

"_Do you think maybe you could give it to her?" Veronica asked, "For me?"_

_While her words suggested otherwise, her body language screamed that this separation was really hard for Veronica, "Fine," he agreed. "I'll call her tomorrow."_

"_Now?" Veronica requested, "Call her now? Please? I…I want to hear her voice," she confessed, never imagining it would be this difficult to keep herself away._

_He sighed and dialed the number that Linley had left on the post it before putting it on speaker phone. "So, what's the verdict?" she asked, not bothering with a greeting. Weevil shot Veronica a look and she smiled. That's her girl, right to the point._

"_You're hired. Can you start tomorrow? After school?" he asked, watching Veronica. She was barely keeping herself silent, desperately wanting to reveal her secret but knowing that it wasn't the time yet. _

_There was a pause before Linley responded, "Sounds good. See you tomorrow."_

_Weevil ended the call, his eyes fixed on Veronica, "I think this makes us even."_

…

_Weevil knocked on the door to Veronica's hotel room, looking around to make sure no one had followed him there. She opened the door, standing behind it and he slipped inside. "I have something for you. It couldn't wait."_

_Veronica took a seat on the bed, reaching for the remote to turn off the television, "A pony?" she asked, excitedly._

_He shook his head with a chuckle, pulling the files from under his jacket and handing them to her, "Is this what you've been looking for?" he asked, watching her flip through them._

"_Where did you get this?" she asked, shocked. They were her case files, complete with all of her detailed notes and thoughts. The same case files she'd been aching for since leaving D.C. How she thought she was going to solve this case remotely without the files still eluded her._

_Weevil chuckled, "Your kid had them. She said she took them from the safe in your apartment in D.C. She's had them the whole time. Warner doesn't know he's been made. This is good, right?"_

_Veronica couldn't believe it. She should be mad that her daughter had gone snooping through things she had specifically told her not to, but she couldn't be happier that her daughter could be so level-headed and forward-thinking, even under pressure. "This is great. I have everything I need to start making a move. It should only be a matter of days, now. I need to get started."_

…

Logan pulled up to an abandoned warehouse, one of many places that had shut down due to the shifting wealth in Neptune over the years, and heard screaming. He jumped out of his car and slid open the giant metal doors without a second thought.

If Veronica had been there, she probably would have had a more eloquent plan involving ninja rolls and lengthy surveillance, but he didn't have that kind of time - or foresight. Though, when two large, muscular guys with guns greeted him almost immediately, he wished he had.

Both of them turned to him, their guns trained to his chest, ready to shoot the intruder. With one tiny flinch of muscle, he could be dead. That was not a thought Logan wanted to be having in the moment. He needed a plan, but instead stood frozen in the doorway.

A crashing sound came from behind the men, distracting them long enough for Logan to attack one from behind, bringing him down and wrestling his gun from him. Perhaps this was going to be his lucky day. The other man turned around, trying to get a clear shot, but failed to do so.

…

Just as she was about to make her move, Veronica heard the front door slam open. Through the crack between the boxes, she could tell that this newcomer was not a friend of the guards. As her eyes focused through the small opening, recognition washed over her. "Damnit, Logan," she quietly cursed under her breath. Despite the circumstances, she couldn't help but notice how kindly the years had treated him. And he was still the same old Logan, swooping in to save the day. She smiled at his actions, however annoyed she was that he had just ruined her plan.

Thinking quickly, she pushed over a pile of boxes, hoping the crash would distract them long enough for Logan to react. Veronica didn't stick around to find out, hoped that her actions had helped him, as she made her way up the back staircase and into the second room as all of the men poured out of the office and down the front stairs.

Her entrance startled the men torturing her daughter, causing the one with the hammer to drop it onto his foot. "Mommy?" Linley asked in shock.

Veronica elbowed the man closest to her in the face before punching him in the stomach and kicking him once he was down. The other man took out his gun and aimed it directly at Linley. "So glad you could join us for the grand finale," he said with a smirk, finger on the trigger.

"No!" Veronica called out, leaving the man she was currently fighting to throw herself in front of her daughter as he pulled the trigger. Two shots rang out, echoing through the building as Veronica fell to the ground, using her legs to knock the shooter down with her.

His head hit the sharp corner of the table as he fell, leaving a deep gash in his forehead. "Mommy!" Linley screamed out again, struggling against the bindings that held her to the chair.

…

Looking up from the unconscious man on the floor, Logan thought he saw a small blonde make a dash for the stairs, but quickly refocused his attention on the other man, who stood frozen, face twisted in confusion at the unexpected turn of events. Logan didn't have time for mind games, though. There were goons to fight and he had a daughter to save.

Unfortunately, the commotion caused more men to run down from an upstairs office to join their fallen comrade. A few leaned in and shared whispers, pointing at Logan. "Where is she?" he asked, aiming the gun he had commandeered towards them.

"Who?" one of them spoke out with a evil grin, stepping forward, unafraid. He turned back to his buddies and chuckled, pointing at Logan.

Logan shook his head, "You know damn well who."

The man returned his smirk, "She's a little… _tied up_ right now. You never told us you had such a pretty daughter. Good thing for her, she looks just like her mother and nothing like her dirt bag of a father. How do you think she'll handle being an orphan?" he paused for a second, "Or better yet, how will _you _feel knowing that the two most important people in your life died protecting your sorry ass. Honestly, I don't see what the attraction is, but whatever, orders are orders."

"What are you talking about?" Logan asked confusedly, steadying the gun in his hand, ready to shoot the low-life standing in his way.

Logan never got an answer to his question as he heard two shots fire upstairs. He looked up hoping to locate them, but within seconds the room burst into chaos. More shots began being fired throughout the room as Logan fought his way through the pandemonium.

…

Veronica sat up, reaching first with nimble fingers to untie Linley's feet before using the chair as an aid to stand and do the same for her daughter's hands. As soon as Linely was released, mother and daughter grabbed one another in a desperate embrace, tears falling freely from them both. After a long moment, they carefully supported each other as they hobbled out of the room and down the same staircase Veronica had came from.

Exiting through the back door, they made their way around to the front where an ambulance was waiting. Veronica helped her daughter over to the vehicle, making sure she didn't put any weight onto her injured leg.

Quickly a few police officers helped Linley into the ambulance while Veronica stood behind it, removing her bullet vest and thrusting it at the nearest officer before climbing in herself.

Veronica slid down the bench until she was sitting next to her daughter's head and took her hand, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," she repeated, crying.

…

Soon he realized that the sheriff's department had arrived. The officers, along with the aid of Weevil, had all of the men on the ground in cuffs in short order. Logan, still in a fog of confusion, had the gun in his hand, unsure if he had fired it at all.

Sheriff D'Amato saw it, "I'm going to ask that you put your weapon on the ground," he said calmly, staying back.

Logan did as asked, placing the gun on the floor, the shots still ringing in his ears. "Do you know if there is anyone else in the building?" Leo questioned, looking upstairs.

Logan nodded in the affirmative, glancing at the room where he was sure he heard the shots being fired from, "Linley… she's here. They… they…" he couldn't form words. Leo nodded and put a comforting hand on his shoulder before heading towards the stairs.

He didn't get very far when a short, shaggy haired man walked out of the office, already in cuffs. The man's face was tilted downward as he descended the stairs, looking up just as he passed the sheriff, a revolting grin across his face.

"Piz?" Logan identified, barely recognizing the kid that he had once beat up in college.

Piz grinned wildly as Logan stepped closer to him, "How does it feel, Logan? To have everything you love taken from you by another man? Does it hurt? Now you know how I feel," he yelled, waving his arms around for emphasis, "All these years. She was always yours. Well, now she's no one's and you have _nothing_ left to remind you of that unholy union." Piz's face changed with that remark: an expression of pure elation. "You weren't meant to be," he continued," Why couldn't you see that?" he raised his voice even more to make his point, "She was mine! You ruined everything!"

"_Piz…" Veronica said, her eyes shifting to focus on him. The sounds from the chaos in the lunchroom could be faintly heard in the hallway where they were standing._

"_No…" he responded, shaking his head, refusing to accept her attention, "You're not doing this." He knew what she was trying to do and he didn't want it. Why couldn't she see that this was wrong? That she was wrong? He deserved a chance._

_She sighed, "You had to know this wasn't working." She gestured between them for emphasis. Their relationship. They were never meant to be; they were just two lonely people trying to find companionship in each other._

"_It was working for me, Veronica. It still is," he countered. Why did she get to decide? He let her do what she wanted: save the world. He didn't stand in her way; tell her it was too dangerous, not like Logan._

"_I'm sorry," Veronica said, turning to leave. Piz watched her, the anger building inside him. She didn't even look sorry. He snorted at her comment in disbelief. Yeah, right, she was sorry, and he was the king of the universe._

_Piz grabbed her wrist to pull her back to him, "It's him, isn't it? Damn it, Veronica! Why do you always go crawling back to him? He's a savage! He just inserted himself into a situation that was none of his business, beat up a guy who has the connections to kill him and make it look like an accident and doesn't respect you.." What did she see in Logan? He was always messing up. He was always hurting her. It wasn't healthy. Why couldn't she see that he was saving her for a change?_

_She jerked her arm free before shrugging, "I-I… I love him," she said simply, surprising herself a little at the words that flowed from her mouth. His eyes narrowed as he looked past her, watching Logan walk into the corridor, obviously checking to make sure she was okay. For a second, Piz wondered if Logan was close enough to hear what Veronica had just told him. He hoped he wasn't. That would only encourage his reckless behavior, behavior that was bound to end up hurting Veronica instead._

_Piz shook his head, "One day, you're going to regret doing this and just know that whatever happens, it's your fault." He walked away, half wanting her to chase after him, the other half knowing that would never happen. When he heard footsteps, he looked back. Instead of seeing her coming towards him, he saw her walking away into Logan's waiting open arms. Oh yes, one day Veronica was definitely going to regret choosing Logan._

"She got in the way, you know," Piz continued his rant as the Leo tried to drag him out, but Logan held up a hand. He strangely, wanted to hear this. "It wasn't meant for her. It was meant for that little brat. Then Veronica decided that she just _had_ to drive that morning. _Had_ to go and get the car checked out, make sure it was safe for your little _bastard_. Always the hero."

Logan's face dropped at the realization. Piz caused the car accident! And it was meant for Linley! Piz actually wanted to hurt Linley! Logan wasn't sure what came over him, but he felt his hands clench into fists and before he could control himself, one collided with Piz's face. Leo pushed Logan back before he could do any real damage and roughly dragged Piz from the building.

"You should probably go to the hospital, Logan," a voice behind him said, causing him to turn around. There stood Mac, awkwardly, her hands jammed into her pockets and leaning to one side. "You're bleeding."

He couldn't hide any of his emotions and pulled Mac into a hug as he lost control, "They're both dead." He sobbed, unsure of what else to do. He was too late. Everyone he ever loved ended up in a box in the ground. It was all too much. Soon his feelings consumed him and his knees buckled.

Mac could barely support the weight of Logan's large frame on top of her own and soon both of them collapsed onto the floor. Mac ran her fingers through his hair in an attempt to calm him. What should she say? What _could_ she say? Her guess was as good as his as to what happened.

…

Weevil stared into the ambulance, seeing the intimate moment between mother and daughter, wanting to say something, but couldn't find the words. "In or out?" a paramedic asked him, obviously getting ready to head off.

"Uh, out, thanks though," he said, taking a step back. He watched the paramedic close the doors before getting in the front and driving off, sirens blaring.

When he first agreed to help her, Weevil had no idea that this would be the outcome. Exhaling loudly, he turned to go back into the warehouse - a spoiled rich boy needed straightening out.

…

Mac held him until Weevil walked in, "Get up," the investigator demanded, "You're a grown man for crap's sake." He waited a moment and then repeated, "Get up, Logan." He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Weevil!" Mac said, shooting him a look. How could Weevil be so insensitive at a time like this? In the short period of time, Logan's emotions had taken a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Where was the compassion?

He softened slightly, "They're not dead. Get up, _please_," Weevil shot Mac a look at the last word as he repeated his command for a third time, finally grabbing both of their attentions. He sighed and waited for them to jump into action.

Slowly Logan stood; wanting to hear what Weevil had to say, "What? Wh-Who isn't dead?" Logan asked. He was not in the mood for one of Weevil's jokes. He thought they had put all of their high school drama behind them and moved on.

"Veronica and Linley," he said, running a hand over his bald head. "They're not dead."

They're alive. Veronica and Linely are alive.

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A/N: So a couple of you smart cookies already guessed that she was alive, so gold stars for you. For everyone else: Surprise! Reviews are wonderful and I loved reading all of your thoughts on the previous chapter. You guys are wonderful. Next time: Logan + Veronica + Hospital = ? (Idk why I keep doing math equations instead of writing it out... but there you have it folks). Smart cookies all around!


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: For all of you patiently waiting, here it is. The next chapter, yay! And welcome to all of the new readers. I'm so glad you have joined us. Perfect timing too, things are just getting good lol. As always, thanks to my wonderful beta who works so hard to make everything perfect. For reals. Amazing. And thanks to everyone who reviews. You guys make my day. Marshmallows for everyone! (Because that's what we eat in this fandom lol) Seriously. Love.

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Chapter 21: Seeing You Again

"Veronica!" Logan called as he ran to her side, seeing her for the first time in close to seventeen years. She looked up at him from her spot on the uncomfortable hospital cot in the E.R., surprise filling her blue eyes.

"Logan…" his name slipped from her mouth almost breathlessly. He watched her stand, carefully, as though to protect an injury she had sustained, before greeting him with a warm embrace and a wince.

Logan was amazed at how well her body still fit against his, like two pieces from the same puzzle. He released her quickly when he heard her wince, realizing that he had squeezed her a little too tightly, a recent memory flooding back into his brain.

"I heard shots and I thought…he began, looking down to see if she was bleeding anywhere.

She shook her head, "I was wearing a vest. I'm just bruised. I'll be fine. I don't even know why I'm over here," she said, as he watched her give a dirty look to the nurse that wouldn't let her leave before returning her attention to him, "Are you okay? They had guns and I pushed over the boxes…"

"I thought that was you… or at least I'd hoped," he smiled warmly as an intern came over, relief washing over him that she was fine.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Gersher, I'm going to need you lie back down so I can have a look at you," he said, pointing to the table where Veronica had been sitting. She protested slightly, insisting he could just sign off on his chart and she would be on her way.

"The sooner you let me do this, the sooner you can leave," the annoyed intern said as Veronica laid on the cot in the crowded E.R. "Honestly, I think you need a psych consult. Who throws themselves in the path of bullets?" He pressed down on her stomach where a large bruise was already starting to form. Logan heard Veronica suck in a sharp intake of breath and looked over with concern.

"I don't know, how about a mother wearing a bulletproof vest in an attempt to save her daughter's life. It's not crazy, it's instinct. I'm fine, can I go now?" Veronica asked, trying to get up again but being forced down by the doctor's strong hands.

"I need to make sure you didn't crack any ribs or have any internal bleeding," he said, shifting his hands around.

As the doctor continued to examine her, Logan got a good look at the damage to her stomach. On one hand he was quite impressed by her visibly toned abs, but on the other, he was concerned about the scars that appeared alongside her newly formed bruise. Slowly his eyes moved across her revealed flesh, taking in the rest of the marks on her body. He didn't need to ask to know where they came from - F.B.I. confrontations gone wrong.

Logan felt like he was going to be sick. This was all his fault: all of the pain she had to endure over the years. If he hadn't put her on that plane, none of this would have ever happened. How could he be the cause of so much pain when all he wanted to do was protect her? Quickly he jumped from his chair and ran down the hall and around a corner before finding a waste bin to launch the contents of his stomach into.

Veronica watched him leave, hurt by his actions. She wanted to run after him, but the doctor still had her pinned to the table. How could he just leave like that?

"Do you know how my daughter is doing?" she asked after a moment of silence, refocusing her attention on to Linley. Logan was fine - she could deal with him later.

He sighed, "No, but we're finished. It looks like you're going to have a pretty nasty bruise for a few days, but otherwise, you're just fine. If you ask that nurse over there, I'm sure she can give you answers," he pointed down the hallway to a woman at a desk as he pulled off his gloves.

Veronica adjusted her shirt before standing up and walking down the hallway towards the E.R.'s waiting room, pushing through the heavy doors that separated them. After a quick chat with the nurse, Veronica learned that Linley was awaiting surgery for the damage done to her leg, as soon as the man in the waiting room finished filling out her admittance papers. Veronica followed the woman's gaze and noticed Logan scribbling on a clipboard, "Can I see her?"

The nurse shook her head, "She's in pre-op right now, probably getting x-rays. When they're ready to take her back, we'll let you know. In the meantime, you might want to go help your husband fill out those forms. He appears to be struggling."

She was about to give the nurse a snarky remark when she noticed the line of people forming, also wanting information. She closed her mouth instead, marching over to Logan. This is where he made a mad dash to? To fill out Linley's medical history before she could? What was this some kind of contest?

Crossing her arms, she began tapping her foot in front of him. "Can I have that," Veronica asked, extending an arm out to grab it.

Logan held the clipboard closer to himself. He needed to do something to make himself feel better about the whole situation. "Why didn't you tell me that I had a daughter?" he asked, looking up into her blue eyes and searching for her thoughts.

"_You_ don't have a daughter. _I_ have a daughter," she said and snatched the clipboard from him, quickly glancing over the pages he had filled out. While he had gotten many answers right, she wanted focus on the ones he had gotten wrong, because this was a contest, right?

"A daughter that you obviously know nothing about. First question: Name. Wrong. Her middle name is not 'blank,' Logan, its Ann. After you. Log_AN_. Ann. I was trying to compromise, since I gave her my last name. It was the least I could do," she took the clipboard and sat next to him, beginning to fill in the missing information. The questions brought back so many memories.

"_Do you want kids?" Logan asked one night as they lay in bed together. Somehow it always seemed easier to talk about these things under the cover of darkness. They were engaged to be married, it was a valid question._

_He could feel her shift next to him, adding a little distance between them on the bed, "I don't know. Maybe? I'm not completely opposed to the idea, but I'm not saying we should start trying to have kids, either. Do you?"_

_He shrugged, pulling her back to him, "I don't know. I wouldn't know how to be a good dad, but I think it'd be cool to have a little Logan, Jr. running around."_

"_What makes you think we'd have a boy? Or that I would let you name our son Logan, Jr.?" she asked, rolling over so she was partially lying on top of him._

_Logan smirked, "Doesn't have to be a boy. We could name our daughter Logan, Jr. too. Logan's a great name like that."_

_Veronica shook her head with a light smile, "We are NOT naming any of our potential future children Logan, Jr."_

_He laughed, "Just you wait and see…"_

"_Never going to happen," she said, bringing her lips to his for a light kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and they were soon drifting off to sleep land._

"How would I know that? I wasn't there when you named her," he shot back, trying to keep his voice down in a public place. He wished he had been. He wished she didn't have to go through that alone.

Veronica rolled her eyes, throwing up her defenses, looking further down on the sheet, "Allergies? Are you trying to kill her? She's allergic to shellfish, like you, and penicillin and anesthesia. If you had turned in this shoddy form, you might have killed her."

"I'm glad you decided to return from the dead to grace us all with your infinite wisdom," he shot back. "What was I supposed to do, ask her for her full medical history before she walked in the door?"

"Or answered the damn phone," she said, writing down Linley's allergies, "I called you twenty-eight times that night," she began, remembering one of the few times she had truly felt alone. It was the first time she actually feared that Logan might never get the opportunity to meet his child, and that thought pained her more than she would ever be able to express. "My dad flew to D.C. to be with me because I couldn't be alone," she continued, "Do you know where you were? At the Oscars." Where was she? The hospital - simultaneously falling apart and holding herself together.

_Veronica paced up and down the hallway of the PICU, waiting for more test results to come back. She couldn't believe this was happening. Only a few hours ago they had entered the E.R., Linley complaining of stomach pains._

_She was quickly diagnosed with appendicitis and rushed to the O.R. for the "simple" procedure to remove it. It wasn't long before the doctors came back, their surgical caps in their hand, trying their best to explain the complications that arose with the procedure._

_They were running tests to determine what had happened and if Linley would wake up, if she would be normal. Veronica had half a mind to scream at them, but instead collapsed into the nearest chair and began dialing Logan's number, over and over again, pausing only briefly to call her dad, before resuming._

_The paralyzing sadness quickly turned to anger after each ring, and soon she began pacing the hallway. Up and down. Voicemail. Redial. During the twenty-eighth call, she noticed the television on in the nurses' station._

_Pausing for a moment, she looked in. "And the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role goes to… Logan Echolls." Veronica pushed the end call button on her phone and watched the man she was trying to reach walk across the stage to collect his award. _

"While you were having one of the best nights of your life, I was having one of the worst. Linley was in the hospital, fighting for her life. She had a severe allergic reaction to anesthesia while having her appendix removed. Congratulations, by the way, for winning. I can't say I ever saw the movie, though. I hope it was worth it," Veronica said, moving down the form.

Suddenly he felt guilty. Though, in his defense, he didn't know he had a daughter in that moment, especially one in the hospital, having such complications. Logan wasn't sure he would ever be able to look at the statue again without thinking about what Veronica just told him.

"I didn't have my phone with me. I didn't know. I would have been there, I would have."

She tried her best not to believe him and scoffed at a blank on the form, "Her birthday, really Logan?"

"It's in February," he commented, "2011." Why couldn't he remember the exact date? It was tearing him up inside that he couldn't remember.

"It's Valentine's Day, Logan. Try spending sixteen hours in labor, alone, on the most romantic day of the year, I'm sure you'll remember it then," Veronica snapped, writing more down on the form, flipping past the first page. Each memory that entered her mind added to the pain that was already taking residence in her heart. She loved this man so much and yet, she couldn't let herself love him.

"_Mommy, my class is going to have a Valentine's Day Party and it's on my birthday," Linley as she set the table for dinner one day after school, "What's Valentine's Day?" she asked._

_Veronica smiled and brought the glasses over, "Valentine's Day is a day for people to tell other people how much they love them and enjoy being around them and sometimes, people in love will give each other cards or presents."_

_Linley nodded, finishing with the silverware, "Did my daddy ever give you a Valentine's Day present?" she asked, looking up at her mother with her big blue eyes, her lip sticking out a little in a pout._

_Veronica placed the glasses on the table and bent down to Linley's level, "He gave me the best Valentine's Day present ever," she said, grabbing Linley's little hands._

"_What was it?" she asked excitedly, "Tell me, please!"_

_Veronica smiled, "He gave me you."_

"_Me?" Linley asked a little confused._

"_Yup, he gave me my favorite little Martian. No Valentine's Day present could ever top that," she said, tapping Linley on the nose before standing up._

"You better watch it, you're getting awfully close to Aaron-territory…" the words just slipped from her mouth and she instantly regretted them. It was as though her subconscious wanted to match the pain that he had caused her.

Logan's jaw dropped at the insult as he watched her hand over the clipboard to the nurse, flash her F.B.I. badge and be allowed access to Linley. He couldn't believe it.

Slowly he lowered his head into his hands and cried, feeling like an actual failure for the first time since his father had literally burned the thought into his mind. What was he even doing there? Who was he kidding? Veronica was right; his fate was to be exactly like his father.

"Logan, what's wrong?" he felt a hand on his back and a presence next to him accompanying the voice. "How are they?"

"Hey Mac," he said, leaning back into the uncomfortable hospital chair. "Linley's leg is broken for sure," he said and paused, running a hand through his hair, forcing himself to inhale, "Veronica compared me to my dad, Mac, my dad!"

Mac looked around, "Where is she?"

Logan let out a pained laugh, "She used her F.B.I. magic and forced her way through. Looks like her days of elaborate plans of dress up and acting are over. All she has to do now is flash a badge and throw around a few big words and suddenly everyone is bowing to her feet," he said, gesturing wildly with his arms.

"Logan," Mac consoled, "give her time." She paused for a moment, shifting in her chair, before continuing, "Think about it from her side. For the past sixteen years, she's had it in her head that you didn't want Linley. She's been trying so hard to protect her, make her feel loved and wanted, enough for two people. It isn't easy to change overnight."

"I didn't want her? I didn't want her!" Logan exclaimed, "She didn't give me a chance to _want _her!" He sighed, turning to face Mac. "What if she packs Linley up and takes her back to D.C.? She's my kid, Mac. She has my DNA. I haven't figured out where she's hiding it yet, but it's there somewhere. I've already missed sixteen years. I don't want to miss another sixteen."

Mac sighed, "Then you get a lawyer and you fight, Logan, but I'd strongly encourage talking to her first, once she's had a chance to cool down."

Soon people started arriving, a large, supportive, concerned group: Duncan, Kate, Amelia, and Daniel, Dick, Jenna, Richard the Third, and Benji, Sheriff D'Amato and Austin, Amelia's boyfriend, Joey, Weevil, Rosa… all of the people Linley had managed to touch the lives of so far during her short time in Neptune.

Logan looked around at all of the people who had come out in support of him and realized he wasn't alone. He had done something that Veronica couldn't in sixteen years: provide Linley with a loving and supportive community of people. He wasn't going to give her up this time without a fight.

* * *

A/N: Well, I hope their reunion is everything you hoped it would be and more, but like Logan and Veronica, things just can't come easily for them. Anyway, review, please? Let me know what you think. I really liked this chapter. It felt so good to be able to write Logan and Veronica together. Even if they were fighting. Right. Reviews. Okay. Next time: Linley + Veronica time! Yay!


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: I'm so sorry for being MIA lately, loves. It's been a crazy week at work and I've been exhausted. I'm sorry! Okay, so I've been reading your reviews and there is something I wanted to address. Veronica did not keep Linley hidden away in D.C. away from Logan. This was not a selfish act. She tried to tell him with phone calls and e-mails and whatever and he didn't get the message. I just wanted to clarify that really quickly. All right, that's all I have for you. Enjoy!

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Chapter 22: Mommy and Me

Veronica slipped into Linley's room. Immediately she could tell her daughter was upset. "Martian, what's wrong?" she asked, taking a seat on the bed, avoiding all of the tubes and wires attached to her little girl.

"I don't want to," she sniffed, trying not to cry. She blinked a few times, looking away, trying to keep up her tough façade.

"You don't want to do what?" Veronica asked, taking Linley's hand and giving it a light squeeze.

Linley shook her head. She should be mad, not crying for her mommy. Her mother left her, it shouldn't be that easy, and yet, when Veronica pulled Linley into her arms and gently rocked her, it all went away. "Linny, I know you're scared, but I'm going to be right here, the whole time. In fact, when you wake up, I'll be sitting right here, eating my share of your ice cream," Veronica joked.

She let out a light laugh before turning serious, "What if I don't wake up?"

"Then I guess I get to eat all of your ice cream," Veronica said, trying to return their conversation to the humorous.

"Mo-om!" Linley whined, not amused. "That isn't funny."

Veronica let out a breath, "You're going to be just fine. The doctor is just going to put your leg back together, a few hours max, and then you're going to wake up and tell me about this boyfriend of yours. I want all of the details."

"Mo-OM!" Linley whined again. "Seriously."

Veronica laughed, "Listen, kiddo, I put you into this world and if anyone is going to be taking you out of it, it will be me, not that doctor. You have nothing to worry about."

"Except you suffocating me with my pillow so you can have all of my ice cream!" Linley shot back with a laugh.

"I hadn't thought of that," Veronica said with a mischievous grin, pretending to reach for Linley's pillow.

The doctor knocked on the door and stepped in, causing the pair of blondes to look up, "We're ready to go if you are," he said, checking something on his clipboard.

"Could we have a minute?" Veronica asked, feeling Linley tense next to her. The doctor nodded and stepped out of the room. "Listen to me," Veronica said, turning so she was looking her daughter in the eyes, "All joking aside, you are going to be fine. This isn't your appendix all over again, do you understand me? It's not the same. I love you and I'm going to be right next to you when you wake up in a few hours, okay? You can do this. Okay? Just keep telling yourself that."

Linley nodded, "I can do this," she repeated, forcing a smile while inside she felt consumed by the scared little girl from her past.

"That's my girl," Veronica smiled back, removing herself from the bed, knowing the doctor would be back any second to take Linley to surgery.

The doctor walked back in with a few nurses and interns to take Linley off to surgery. Veronica squeezed Linley's hand once more and whispered "I love you" in her ear once they got to the point where Veronica could no longer follow them.

Knowing she now had a few hours to kill, she made her way to the cafeteria in search of coffee. Thankfully, the line was short and within minutes, she had the warm, Styrofoam cup in her hand.

"Hey, V," she heard, and turned around to see Weevil standing a few feet from her. Veronica sent him a forced smile before turning to head back to Linley's room. "Wait up," he called after her, following her down the hallway.

She stopped and turned back towards him. "I just wanted to know if you were okay," he said, dropping the tough guy act for just a moment.

"Fine," Veronica responded, not sure why she was being so short with him. Ever since she had come to town, Weevil had been nothing but helpful to her. "Sorry," she said at the realization, "I'm just a little…"

"Hey, it's cool. She's something special, your kid. Hard-headed and independent, like you, but otherwise pretty cool," Weevil chuckled. "I hear you threw yourself in the line of fire for her."

Veronica nodded with a light laugh, "Yeah, I did… here," she said, handing Weevil her coffee cup and lifting up the hem of her shirt to show him the deep purple bruise that had formed across her abdomen, the latest addition to her assortment of battle scars from cases gone wrong.

"Geez, Veronica," he said, staring at the angry mark caused by an angry man, "You can't keep doing that to yourself. Promise me that you'll seriously consider my offer to work for me."

"It doesn't hurt," she defended, looking down to inspect it for the first time, herself.

Weevil raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Doesn't hurt, huh?" he asked, and began poking her in the stomach.

"Ow!" Veronica exclaimed, jumping back and swatting at his hand, "I didn't say to poke it."

"Want Weevil to kiss it and make it all better?" he asked.

A grin spread across her face, "As a matter of fact, I do." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot in mock impatience. "Well?"

Weevil looked around, not wanting to lose any of the street cred that he had worked so hard to build. Finally he sighed, handed her, her coffee back, and kissed his fingers before reaching down and pressed them into her bruise, making her jump again.

To anyone else, the moment would have come across as incredibly intimate. They stood close together, sharing a touch, completely involved in each other. That moment is exactly what Logan saw when he walked down the hallway on his way to the cafeteria, stopping mid-step at the sight. He turned around just before Veronica punched Weevil in the shoulder for yet again poking at her injury.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Weevil rolled his eyes, "You punch me in front of all of these people, make me look like a pansy getting beat up by a girl and then you do your little head tilt thing asking for a favor?"

"Do you want me to twirl my hair? Besides, you owe me," Veronica said, matter-of-factly.

His brow furrowed, "Remind me again just how I owe you?"

"Uh, you see this whole mess," she said, gesturing around them, "It's kind of your fault. You should have never let Linley take a case all by herself."

His jaw dropped in skepticism, "Uh, I believe I was doing you a favor by hiring her in the first place."

"I told you to hire her as a receptionist, not junior investigator. You should have known she wouldn't listen to you, she's my daughter, after all," Veronica said with a laugh, patting him on the shoulder, before taking a sip of her now lukewarm coffee.

Weevil let out a breath, "What do you want?"

She smirked, "Rocky road ice cream. I promised Linley that I would be waiting with ice cream when she woke up, but…"

"You don't want to leave the hospital… I get it. Sure thing, V," Weevil smiled, giving Veronica a light pat on the back before heading out in search of ice cream. Truth be told, he had come to think of her as a sister and despite everything he did for her, he would always owe her a favor.

Veronica headed back to the room to wait for Linley, thinking about the last time she had sat in one of those hard, plastic chairs, waiting for news on her daughter.

"_Dad!" Veronica said, jumping up to greet him. She hadn't seen him in years and honestly, she would have preferred that his first visit to meet his granddaughter was under better circumstances._

_He wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her in his arms for a moment. "I just didn't know who else to call," she confessed._

"_Shh… it's okay, honey," he said, releasing her to get a good look at her and frowned. Subconsciously Veronica tugged at the bottom of her shirt with one hand, hiding the other behind her back. "How is she?" he asked, his eyes meeting hers._

_Veronica looked back to her daughter on the bed, "No change. Even if she does wake up, there's no guarantee that…" she trailed off, thinking of all of the things the doctor's said. Despite the fact that they caught it, she had still been oxygen deprived for some time and the lasting effects of that could not be determined until she woke up, if she woke up._

_If the day couldn't get any worse, post-surgery, Linley was given penicillin, which caused yet another reaction in the little girl, causing the doctors to rush off and rethink their treatment. Veronica had just turned to a mess, crying into the phone for her dad._

_Now, a few hours later, stood Keith Mars in front of her. "Don't go there," he said, taking another step further into the room. "She is going to be fine. She's a Mars."_

_Veronica watched her father look over the face of her daughter for the first time. She could tell he was comparing the little girl's features to her own as a child. "Linley, huh?" he asked, as though he was saying her name aloud for the first time._

"_Yeah. I call her Martian," she said, stepping closer to her father. "I get it now."_

_Keith looked back to his daughter, his expression painted with confusion, "Get what?"_

"_Why you always defended me, even when I was in the wrong. Why you always came to my rescue, no questions asked. Why you always wanted everything for me. I do the same for her. Thanks," she said, giving her father another hug._

_Keith smiled and then frowned, "Did you call Logan?"_

"_How did you know?" she asked, never telling her father who the father of her own child was. It was just one of those things that she felt Logan should know first._

_He held his hands up in defense, "I know you have your reasons for what you do and I'm always going to support you because you're my daughter, but I don't want you to live with regrets."_

"_He's the one who threw me away, remember?" she asked, crossing her arms._

"_Yet, you're the one still wearing his ring seven years later," Keith observed. Veronica looked down at her hand. He was right. Every day she put on that ring like it meant something. Disgusted by her own actions, she uncrossed her arms and pulled the ring off of her finger before dropping it into her bag, never to be worn again. "Honey…"_

_She shook her head, "No. You're right. He's moved on, so should I. I deserve to be happy, too." Veronica thought back to the blonde she had seen all over him on the television. Logan didn't want a family, he wanted fun, and she was going to make sure he was never burdened with them._

_As the night drew on, the topics of conversation shifted from life long ago to present day. Keith inquired about Linley's grades and her activities, asked for photos to show off like any proud grandparent and wanted to know when he could start spoiling her into loving him more. The light conversation was exactly what Veronica had needed._

A light knock at the door brought her back from her thoughts. Finishing the last drop of her coffee, she looked up and saw Mac on the other side of the glass window. She stood to throw her cup away, opening the door in the process, "Hey, Mac."

"How is she?" Mac asked, giving her friend a hug.

Veronica shrugged, "Nothing yet. No news is good news?" she asked, lightly.

"Some day, huh?" Mac asked, changing the topic. She looked awkwardly around the room, like she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to approach the topic.

Veronica let out a breath, "Whatever it is, Mac, you can tell me."

"Are you…" she started and then stopped, trying to regain her nerve, "Are you and Weevil…"

She was interrupted by the door opening and Weevil walking in, unintentionally interrupting, "We are officially even, _chica_," he said, holding out the bag of ice cream. "Hey Mac," he added, before turning around to leave.

Mac looked between the pair as Veronica grabbed the grocery bag from him. Veronica watched Mac closely and suddenly realized what Mac was trying to ask before. She nodded at Weevil, acknowledging his departure before speaking, "You think that I'm seeing Weevil?"

"Well, you did spend two long months working undercover on a case together and Logan said…" Mac defended before Veronica cut her off.

"Logan said?" she asked in disbelief.

Mac nodded, "He said he saw you two in the hallway, Weevil's hands were on you…"

Veronica's eyes widened, "That was nothing. He wanted to know that I was okay, so I showed him my bruise and he poked it. Logan saw that?" Mac nodded and Veronica collapsed back into the uncomfortable chair. "Why would he care, anyway?"

"Maybe because he still loves you?" Mac said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Probably not anymore… I messed up, Mac," Veronica said, taking a seat in the chair and dropping her head to her hands, "I compared him to Aaron, of all people. I can't believe I did that."

Mac placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I know. You need to talk to him. Apologize. Logan's pretty forgiving, and considering the way he feels about you… You just need to talk to him, _really_ talk to him."

Veronica didn't have a chance to respond because Linley was brought back into the room from surgery. During the exchange, Mac slipped out, leaving Veronica with her thoughts and rocky road ice cream.

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A/N: Review? Pretty please? E-Marshmallows for all my reviewers. Hearts. And next time: Logan and Veronica in the backseat of Logan's car... stay tuned you guys... and hopefully it will only be a couple of days and not an entire week. I'm sorry!


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: So, I'm going to be quick with the author's note this time because it is practically midnight and I have work in the morning and therefore I need sleep, which means I am going to bed as soon as this is posted so... Thanks to my beta you are awesome. Thanks to all of my loyal reviewers, you make me smile and keep me going. Uh, I guess that's all. Read!

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Chapter 23: Together

Logan stood in the hall, watching the door. So far he had seen Mac, Weevil, Daniel, Jenna, Amelia, Austin, Duncan, Kate, and Leo enter and exit the hospital room. Unfortunately, those were not the people he was waiting for to leave.

He was waiting for Veronica to leave so he could have a moment alone with his daughter. Who knew what Veronica had told her by now? She probably hated him. He slid down the wall and dropped his head into his hands.

_Looking through the closet, he began selecting articles of clothing and dropping them into the open suitcase on the bed. He knew that the F.B.I. had always been her dream and he was going to give that to her. In a few hours, they would both be on board a plane headed for D.C., ready to start the next chapter of their lives together._

_Logan honestly could not remember a time in his life when he had been happier than these past few years with Veronica. He didn't even care that he would be giving up their beachside mansion to live in a small, landlocked apartment in the city. She was worth it._

_Placing another shirt into his suitcase, he noticed his phone buzzing on the bed, "Hello?" he said, answering it._

"_Logan… it's me…" a female voice said through a crackly connection._

"_Trina?" he guessed, shocked to hear her voice. He hadn't heard from his sister in years. "How much do you need?"_

_There was a pause and only static could be heard, "I need your help," she said finally._

_Logan sighed, knowing exactly what she was referring to. Their father's death had hit Trina the hardest, for some reason she had loved and idolized the man. Since then, she had turned to the life of drugs, trying to make the pain go away. Occasionally there would be a slow week in the gossip columns and some writer would get thrown the story of the sad case of Trina Echolls, how the promising young star had fallen so quickly. Logan could never take any of them seriously._

"_How much do you owe them?" he asked, not wanting to deal with her. He had his own life now, a good life, he didn't need her messing around with it._

"_I don't need money, Logan. I need a place to crash for a few days," she insisted._

_He sighed, "Fine, take my house, I'm moving anyway."_

"_I'm in jail, Logan. They won't release me unless someone takes custody of me. You're all I have. You have to," she begged, though he could tell her bad acting through the phone._

_On one hand she was his sister, the only family that he had left. On the other, he had the opportunity to start a new family with just himself and Veronica. He was silent for a moment, weighing his options._

_He ran a hand through his hair, "I'll see you tomorrow," he said with gritted teeth._

"_Why not now?" she pouted._

"_Because, Trina, I have something I need to do tonight," he said and ended the call, throwing his phone at the bed. Veronica was strong, she would be able to manage on her own. It would be temporary, and then they would be back together, but right now, Trina needed him more._

Logan awoke with a start, not realizing he had fallen asleep. He woke full of anger, thinking of the choice that he had made: the choice that led to all of this. The fact that Trina had still decided to go back to the life she had before made choosing her that much more painful to think about.

It was all for nothing. All of that time and sacrifice and she still went back to the drugs and the drug dealers and the dangerous situations. All of that time and he could have been in D.C. with Veronica starting their life together. For months after Trina left for her old life, he had been in a funk. He stayed in bed all day, didn't take calls or check e-mails.

Thinking back now, he regretted not pulling himself together sooner and going to her. He still could have had everything. Why was he such an idiot? Looking up, he remembered why he was sitting there: Linley.

Slowly, he stood up and made his way over to her door, casually looking through the window to see if Veronica was still in there. However, he noticed that Linley was already asleep. He didn't blame her, she had a long, exhausting day. His eyes scanned the room and he saw Veronica sitting on the couch, head in her hands.

First, he thought she fell asleep in that uncomfortable position, then he noticed the slight jerky motion of her shoulders up and down and realized that she was crying. Any anger he felt towards her was put on hold as his heart ached to take her pain away.

He slipped into the room, trying as hard as possible to be silent so he wouldn't wake Linley. He slid in beside Veronica on the couch, wrapping his arms around her. Logan could tell he had surprised her by the way she first tensed in his arms before allowing her body to relax. "Logan," she said, wiping her face before looking at him.

Her eyes were red and puffy, and he knew she had been crying for a while. "I'm sorry," she continued, the pain evident across her face. "You're not Aaron. You're a good dad. I…"

He hushed her, running his fingers over her bare arms, "I know. I know."

"It's just been me and her for so long, I just got used to doing everything myself…" she continued, despite his understanding, "I love her so much. Please don't take her away from me. She is all I have." Her eyes locked his and he felt his heart breaking.

"That's not true," he said, pulling her closer to him, "You have me, too."

She looked at him confused, "Then why did you leave?"

"Earlier?" he asked, referring to their moment in the E.R. She nodded, looking into his eyes. "I couldn't take it, seeing all of your scars, knowing that I'm responsible for so many people hurting you. It made me sick. I ran to find a trashcan to throw up in."

Veronica shook her head, "It's not your fault." She paused for a moment, "Do you want to know about them?"

He found himself nodding, though he wasn't sure if he could handle seeing them again. She nodded back at him, taking his larger hand in her smaller one and stood, "Not here," she clarified, looking over to Linley who was asleep.

They slipped out the door, but Logan looked back, "What if she wakes up and you're not there?"

"They gave her a sedative, won't be up for hours," Veronica responded, leading him down the hallway, not sure where exactly she was taking him.

"My car is in the parking lot," he offered, knowing that she was looking for somewhere else to go. She nodded and allowed him to lead the way.

Once they were in the comfort of the spacious backseat of his SUV she asked him again, "Are you sure?"

He nodded. She had seen all of his scars many times and still stood by him. The burns and the lashes from his father still faintly showed across his flesh, physical markings to show how far he'd come.

Quickly, she slipped off her simple t-shirt, allowing his eyes an unrestricted view of her flesh. Slowly, he reached a hand out, carefully avoiding the large purple bruise near her side and began ghosting his fingertips over her scars. "How'd you get this one?" he asked, his fingers settling on a linear scar near her ribs, just under her right breast.

"Randy McFarrer, child molester, six years ago, stabbed me with a knife, collapsed my lung, in the hospital for a few days. He's still in jail," she said, not needing to look where his fingers were.

He motioned for her to turn around and slowly she did, allowing him to see her back. He didn't need to ask this time, "I was held captive for three days. Jim Pumel. Serial Killer. He got off on lashings. Death row."

"Did he…?" Logan couldn't even get the words out, knowing her checkered past.

She shook her head and began sliding off her pants. "I was shot by a .35 in the leg by Abby Donalds. Quick surgery to get it out and stitched up. She just wanted to keep her children. Too bad shooting a federal agent pretty much guarantees that you'll never see them again."

He nodded, running his fingers over the scar, "And Linley…"

Veronica understood exactly what he was asking: Where was their child through all of this? She looked away from him, quickly pulling her pants back up, "Sometimes my dad would come to town, rarely though. I uh, I had this elderly neighbor, Nana Faye. She became kind of like a mother to me, watched Linley from time to time. She died a few years ago," Veronica paused and looked up at him, sighing. "I don't know if everything I did as a parent was the right thing to do or what the books said to do, but I did it. We got through it, and if I'm allowed to say so, she's a pretty good kid."

Logan laughed lightly, "Yeah, she is. I wish… I wish I would have gone to D.C. with you."

She turned in her seat, getting a better look, "What are you talking about?"

He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head, "I bought two plane tickets, Veronica. I packed for both of us. I was going to go with you. Then, Trina called. She was arrested, addicted to drugs and needed me. So I…" he sucked in a hard breath, "I put you on that plane and went straight to jail to get Trina. Biggest regret of my life."

Veronica placed a comforting hand on his back as he continued, "She was doing great for a while… I thought she was getting better. Then, I came home one day, and there was this note on the table. She met this guy. He was going to make her a star. She thanked me for trying."

"I was just so angry. I punched a hole in the wall," he paused and let out a sad laugh, "I punched several holes in the wall. I broke my hand punching holes in the wall. How could I talk to you after I had chosen Trina and lost? If I had the chance to do it over again, I would get on that plane with you every time."

Veronica thought of her mother for the first time in a while. In high school, she had gambled her entire college fund on her mother's rehab and had lost. However, unlike Logan, she hadn't taken to punching walls to release her frustration.

"Maybe if I had chosen you," he continued, "This whole thing wouldn't have happened, you know? We wouldn't have been in Neptune. He wouldn't have been able to get her."

She shook her head, "You don't know that." Veronica took a shaky breath, "I knew what he was doing. We were assigned this case and a few weeks into investigating, we hit a brick wall. Information was missing, people didn't exist, things just weren't adding up. Normally, I would have a late night with Warner to discuss ideas, but my gut on this one was telling me to leave him out of it. So, I was looking into it myself and I began noticing all of these connections between the missing information, the people involved. The morning that I…" she paused. Died? Disappeared? Ran away?

"Left?" Logan supplied, encouraging her to continue.

"Sure, the morning I left, I dropped my car off at the auto shop and went across the street to this coffee shop to wait while they ran the diagnostic on it…"

_Veronica sat outside in the wrought iron chair, sipping on her coffee while she pressed her phone to her ear, enjoying the unseasonably warm February morning. Looking at her watch, she realized it was still pretty early, but she hoped he would be awake anyway._

"_Mariano," the male voice came through the phone, strong and focused, causing Veronica to smile._

"_Hey Pete," she greeted, taking another sip of her coffee._

_There was a shuffling of the phone before he responded, "Veronica…" he acknowledged warmly, "You know, I still can't figure out why you turned down L.A. It's gorgeous out here."_

_She laughed lightly, thinking of her reasons for not wanting to return to California, "Listen, Pete, I need a favor."_

"_I'm not dressing up as a clown again," he laughed into the phone._

_Veronica smiled at the disaster that was Peter the Clown, "No, uh, actually, I was wondering if you maybe had a little time to check up on a few people for me." She listed the names off from memory, many of whom were local to the L.A. area where Peter was currently located._

"_How's Linley doing?" he asked, changing the subject, "I bet she's tall now."_

_She laughed, "Linley, my vertically challenged daughter, is doing just fine, thank you. Now, what about these guys, it's important."_

"_Always business," he chuckled, "Why me? Why not this hotshot Warner? Is he better looking than me? You can tell me."_

_Veronica took in her surroundings before she responded, "No one could ever replace you, Pete. Warner is uh… well, to be honest, I think he's the one behind all of this, but you know how the Bureau is when you point fingers at other agents," she said, rolling her eyes, "Promise me you'll keep this under wraps, whatever you find out."_

_Whatever Peter responded with, Veronica couldn't hear him as the sound of an explosion spread through the area. Looking up, she saw her own car, blown to pieces and on fire, in the middle of the intersection._

"_Veronica?!" she heard him yell through the phone, obviously hearing the explosion too. "Veronica, what happened?"_

_Thinking quickly, she picked up her coffee and left the shop, "Change of plans, Pete, I'm coming to California. I'll tell you everything when I get there."_

"Once I was on my way to L.A., I called Linley. I told her I was going to be undercover for a while. I hoped she would figure it out. I came to L.A. and met up with Peter. We talked for a while, discussing options and to keep my cover, we decided it would be best if I went someplace quieter than L.A. so I came to Neptune and talked to Weevil. He agreed to be my contact with the outside world for a while, since I couldn't exactly be seen. We started putting the pieces together, and I was right: Warner was in on it. It didn't take long for us to follow the trail back to Piz. The only problem was," Veronica continued, "I thought Warner had my files. It wasn't until Weevil saw Linley with them and took them away did we know that the plan was still in effect and all of the original players would be involved. It probably would have happened sooner if we stayed in Neptune. I think what took so long is Piz didn't know where we were."

Logan nodded at the information, unsure of what to say. This was probably one of the moments that he was thankful he wasn't inside of her head. "Who is Peter?" he asked, finally.

Somehow she knew he would focus on that aspect if the story and smiled, "He was my first partner when I joined the F.B.I. We were paired for a long time and became really good friends."

"Just friends?" he questioned, despite the fact that Linley had told him Veronica never had a boyfriend.

She looked away, "We went out on a few dates, over the years, but there was never anything there."

"Okay," he smiled quickly, and then frowned, "so what do we do now? Are you going back to D.C.? Do you want me out of her life? Because I don't think I can do that."

Veronica sighed and shook her head, "I don't know, Logan. I haven't thought about it. Eventually, I'll have to go back. There will be a trial, I'll be a witness. Plus, hospital stays are expensive, I can't just quit my job right now, I'll lose my insurance and we… we barely stay afloat as it is and…"

He cut her off, "Veronica, she's my kid too. Whatever she needs, I'll take care of it. You've taken care of everything for sixteen years, it's my turn. If you want to quit your job, do it."

"I can't ask you to do that," she began and was again cut off by Logan.

"You're not asking. I want to," he looked out the window at the rising sun, "How about we go and get something to eat? You hungry?" he asked and laughed at the statement.

Veronica looked down to her watch and thought for a moment, "They knocked her out pretty early, she's probably going to be awake soon. I'd like to be there when she does," she paused for a moment before adding an explanation, "She hates hospitals, probably for good reason." Seeing his face fall, she continued, "Can we take it to go and eat together? The three of us?"

His smile returned as he reached for the door handle, "Just tell me where to go."

They both got out of the backseat of Logan's SUV in favor of relocating to the front to search for breakfast. "I don't suppose there's a Fractured Prune around here? No? Right. How about we go to Laura's Diner then? And hit up Java the Hut on the way back for coffee and muffins?"

He nodded and drove to the diner, occasionally taking his eyes off the road to look over at Veronica, reminding himself that she was really there, alive, and next to him. Thankfully the diner wasn't far away, or crowded at such an early hour and they were able to just walk right in. He watched her pick up a menu and flip through it, leaning against the counter in a way that was only Logan.

"What are you having?" the waitress said, tying her apron on as she walked forward from the back.

Logan looked between Veronica and the waitress before stepping forward, sensing that she needed a minute, "I'll have the pancakes with bacon and an orange juice, to go," he requested, putting on his patented Logan Echolls' smirk. "Veronica?"

"Right, uh, let me get two of your lumberjack breakfast platters, one with sausage, one with bacon, eggs scrambled for both, and could you add chocolate chips to the pancakes? And put those chopped strawberries and blueberries on top. Also, I'd like a side of French toast, with extra powdered sugar. Uh… Never mind, just throw in some extra of the walnut-maple syrup and a couple of orange juices," she said with a smile, placing the menu back on the counter. Logan shook his head and held out a card to pay for the meal. Mars women certainly could eat.

The waitress nodded and walked away to put in the order before Logan approached her, "What else were you going to order?"

"This is going to sound really strange, but chicken and waffles. I don't think they do that here. It's okay though, we'll pick up a few extra muffins and maybe a croissant with the coffee," she said as she took a seat on one of the stools at the counter. He hoped one day he would be able to order with such ease for their daughter, knowing exactly what she liked and how she liked it.

"How do you do it? Remember everything?" he let the words fall out of his mouth from his thoughts.

He watched her face shift as she shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, when she was a baby, I learned pretty quickly she didn't like pears. Every time I would give her pear baby food, it would end up on me and not in her. They say babies like fruit baby food over the vegetable kind, but not Linley, she'd take strained peas any day over pears. You only need a couple of pear facials before you learn that it's a waste of your time. Everything else kind of works the same way. You buy her a shirt she doesn't like and it will hang in the back of her closet until she out grows it."

The waitress walked over with their order and offered a smile, passing the bag containing the Styrofoam takeout containers to Logan. He waved and placed his hand at the small of Veronica's back, leading her back out to the car.

After a quick stop at Java the Hut for coffees and pastries, they were back at the hospital, loaded with food. Just as Veronica was about to leave the SUV, Logan put his hand out and held her back, "Just one more question," he said, watching her close the door and turn to him.

"What?" Veronica asked, not minding his questions, but still wanting to get inside before Linley woke up.

He sighed and looked everywhere but at her before finding the words "What if I _am_ like Aaron? What if I _do_ hurt her?"

Her eyes met his and she shifted around the food containers so she could take his hand in her own, "You won't."

"You can't know that. You said it yourself, I'm like him," the hurt dripping from his voice. So maybe he wasn't over it after all.

She shook her head, "I do. Because you haven't. I know. I know that Linley is very good at pushing people's buttons. I can only imagine the things she's said to you when she was upset, things meant to hurt you, to make you mad. She's like me in that respect," Veronica looked away, regretting ever comparing him to Aaron, "But you didn't. You let her yell at you and get it out, slam doors and whatever else, but you never laid a finger on her, Logan. That's how I know you won't." Veronica paused, letting her words hang in the air between them.

After a moment, she spoke again, trying to lighten the mood, "Now, I can't say the same about her if she wakes up and we're not in there. She may have a broken leg, but her hands are just fine. You know," Veronica grinned, getting out of the SUV, juggling the bag of food and the tray of coffees, "I've seen her karate chop a cinderblock in half."

He laughed and took the tray of coffees from her as they walked into the hospital and up to Linley's room. Logan kept a step behind her, allowing her to walk into the room first. Following her, he noticed Linley was awake as he put the tray of coffees down next to the bag of food.

"Scoot," he heard Veronica say and turned around to watch her slide into bed with Linley.

"Coffee?" Linley asked sleepily, holding her hands out for the delicious liquid. Logan pushed the rolling table over to the bed before pulling a chair up for himself.

"How are you feeling today, Martian?" Veronica asked, handing her daughter the Styrofoam container with her breakfast.

Logan shot her a confused look, "Martian?"

Linley rolled her eyes, "My mom thinks she's funny."

"Your mommy is a very funny lady," Veronica responded, spreading out her own breakfast.

He shook his head, "Why do you call her Martian?"

"Because she's from Mars," Veronica answered simply, tying stealing a slice of Linley's bacon as Linley attempted to stab her hand with a plastic fork.

Logan thought about it for a moment before laughing, the distraction allowing Veronica to successfully swipe a piece of bacon as Linley crossed her arms and pouted. "Hey!" Veronica said, turning to her child with a grin, "I gave you life. The least you could do is give me bacon."

"I'm never going to live that down, am I?" she huffed, moving her tray over slightly, not that there was much more room to move it over to begin with.

Veronica shrugged, "Nope."

Logan sat back in the chair, placing his empty tray in the empty bag, watching the pair interact, feeling a mix between happiness and feeling left out.

"Daddy!" Linley's voice tore him from his thoughts, "Daddy, help me!" His eyes focused on the situation in front of him and saw Veronica mercilessly tickling Linley. "I can't breathe!"

Looking between the pair, he stood and walked over, surprising Veronica by attacking her most ticklish spots, "See, Linley, not many people know that the big, bad, Veronica Mars is actually very ticklish right… here," he said with a wink as his hands moved across her body, making her squirm in laughter, letting up her attack on Linley. In that moment, at least, things looked like they might be okay for their little family.

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A/N: And now the closing Author's note where I beg shamelessly for reviews (Review, please?) and then I tell you a little bit of what happens next time. So, Next time: Linley comes home! Yay! Good night.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: I am so sorry for the delay. I feel like I keep saying that, and I'm a terrible person. I've just been busy with work and trying to catch up on sleep. And I've been trying to get my next story off the ground since this one will be wrapping up shortly (you guys have been great) so be sure to look for that one hopefully not too long after this one concludes. Anyway, enough of my ramblings, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

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Chapter 24: Welcome Home

"Come on, Pegleg," Veronica laughed as they walked up the path to the house, looking back as Linley struggled with her crutches a few paces behind.

"Ha ha," she said, clearly not amused, holding one of her crutches up and poking her mother in the back with it. "Not funny."

Logan tried to hold back a laugh of his own, not wanting to choose sides in the discussion. Linley, however, noticed, "You're siding with her!" she accused.

He held his hands up in defense, "I'm not siding with anyone." He looked between them and let out a breath before handing Veronica his keys and walking back towards Linley. Carefully, he took her crutches from her, handing them to Veronica as well before picking her up to carry her into the house.

Veronica rolled her eyes but unlocked the door anyway. "Look mommy, daddy loves me more, he's carrying me," Linley said, sticking her tongue out.

She shook her head at her daughter, "Tell him to do that for nine more months and we'll see who loves you more," she joked, following them inside, closing the door behind her and dropping Logan's keys into the waiting dish.

Logan chuckled at her remark before carrying Linley upstairs to her room. Veronica followed behind him with Linley's crutches, knowing they wouldn't be very useful to her downstairs. She noted the changes that Logan had made since the last time she had been there. Absent-mindedly, she leaned the crutches against the wall in the room where Linley was before wandering through the rest of the house.

The first thing she noticed was all of her pictures hanging on the walls. In each room she was greeted by another image of her and Linley's smiling faces. She paused at the back door, looking out into the yard, the same yard that had made her fall in love with the house in the first place.

_Logan walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder, "What do you think of this one?" he asked, looking out into the yard to share her view._

"_Well, it's not big enough to house a pony…" she started, turning to look at him and watching his face light up in laughter. "But there definitely is plenty of room for a puppy or two."_

_His smiled wildly, shaking his head, "Those are your standards?" he asked, not expecting any less from her and her endless desire for a pony._

_She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck before leaning in for a light kiss, "Seriously though, this one feels like home. It's a little bigger than I imagined… okay a lot bigger than I imagined, but everything we've looked at is huge and I guess we'll just have to have a bunch of kids and puppies to fill it up," she said with a smile._

"_Okay," he said simply, capturing her lips for another kiss, this one more passionate than the last._

_Breaking away she searched his eyes, "Do you like this one? We can keep looking if you don't."_

"_It's right on the beach, it has a pool, it isn't the Neptune Grand, and it comes with the prettiest girl I have ever laid eyes on. I'm sold," he said, tapping her on the nose before moving on to go find the realtor to put in an offer._

Veronica was broken from her thoughts when she felt a pair of strong arms slip around her waist. "She fell right asleep as soon as I put her on the bed." He paused, sensing something was up, "What's on your mind?"

She turned around in his arms and looked at him, "I was thinking that maybe I could find an apartment in Neptune and stick around for a little while."

"Why don't you just stay here? You love this house, remember? You can have your choice of the bedrooms… or the guest house if it makes you more comfortable," he offered lightly. "Plus, it would be easier to take care of Linley if we were both here."

He had a point and she nodded, "Fine, but only until Linley is back on her feet," she said, lightly laughing at her own terrible pun. She turned to leave and paused, "And I'm cooking dinner."

Logan smiled, "Whatever you want."

She nodded, "I'm going to go get my stuff from the hotel room I was staying in, if that's okay," she said, pointing towards the door.

He nodded, "You can take my car. Or Linley's. She probably won't be driving anytime soon."

"Thanks," Veronica said, picking the keys out of the dish before slipping out. She drove the familiar route, making a pit stop before heading to the grocery store.

She smiled when she walked into the office, "Hey."

Weevil looked up and shook his head with a smile, "How you doin, V?"

"Better," she nodded, "We brought Linley home today. She's sleeping it off at home." Veronica paused for a moment, "Were you serious about that job?"

He looked at her for a moment, "Home? Job? Does this mean that you're staying?" he asked.

"I was considering it. So, if I do, will I have a job?" she repeated, looking around the office.

"What about the F.B.I.?" he questioned.

Veronica smiled, "Sent in my letter of resignation this morning. I just can't do it anymore."

Weevil nodded, "Well, I have been getting behind with cases lately… It would be nice to be able to be able to get out of the office, catch bail jumpers and whatnot. You could handle all of the other crap," he paused before adding, "Nothing dangerous." They both knew that Veronica wouldn't listen, but he had to say it anyway.

"Well, I need to go and get my stuff out of the Camelot," she said as he shot her a confused look, "I'm staying with Logan for a few days."

Again he nodded, "He's a good guy, V, don't go too hard on him."

"Am I missing something? I thought you two hated each other?" she crossed her arms over her chest and waited for an answer.

Weevil shrugged, "He walked around here for sixteen years looking like somebody just kicked his puppy. It's hard to hate someone that pathetic. Maybe I just understand what it's like to lose the love of your life." Veronica frowned at his statement, knowing he was talking about Lilly. She would never understand their relationship, but she believed that it was real.

Veronica nodded and thanked Weevil again for helping her and left the office to collect her things and check out of the hotel. She hadn't realized how much stuff she had accumulated in Neptune until she went to pack it all up. Once she had finished, she stopped by grocery store to pick up something to make for dinner.

"Where's mommy?" Linley asked, hobbling down the stairs from her nap.

Logan looked up from the script he was reading, "She went to go get her stuff from her hotel and probably pick up something to make for dinner."

"Yes!" Linley exclaimed, falling back into the couch and putting her crutches at her feet.

Logan gave her a look, "You don't like my cooking?"

"It's not that I don't like your cooking… I just miss hers," Linley covered quickly. Logan nodded and laughed.

It wasn't long before Veronica arrived home and began preparing dinner: lasagna. Once it was in the oven, she joined them in the living room. She sat down next to Linley on the couch and played with her hair, twisting it into a tight bun like she had so many times throughout her daughter's life for dance class. "You need a haircut," Veronica commented, noticing how long Linley's hair was.

"I want to grow it out," Linley commented, shaking out the bun that Veronica had constructed on her head.

"You say that now, and then swim season starts or you're falling out of your pirouettes or you decide you want to play a boy in the school musical again and…" Veronica listed, only naming a few of the activities that Linley had participated in lately.

Linley snorted in laughter, "The only boy I'll be playing anytime soon is Tiny Tim."

"Well, on that positive note, I'm going to go and check on dinner," Veronica said, getting up, "Linny, you should probably go wash up," she added as she left the room.

Dinner was a huge success, considering how much the Mars women loved Italian. Well, loved food in general. "So," Veronica said, looking at Linley, "How would you feel if we didn't go back to D.C.?" she asked. "What if we stayed in Neptune instead?"

"Are you being for real right now?" Linley asked, looking between Veronica and Logan, "Because that would be amazing."

"Well," Veronica began, looking at Logan, "for now and we'll see how things go. But I'd like to stay permanently."

Linley squealed, "I have to go tell Daniel. And Jenna. And… everyone," she said and picked up her crutches, hobbling away from the table at the fastest speed either one of them have seen her move since she got them.

Veronica stood and began clearing Linley's plate, "Go relax. I can do the dishes, you made dinner," Logan said and watched her look uncertainly at the dishes, "I don't mind."

"Okay," she said and sat back down to finish her lasagna, watching him collect the dirty plates. It seemed so natural.

Veronica quickly finished up and brought her plate and glass over to the sink before leaning with her back against the counter near where he was standing, "I…" she started and paused, unsure of the words. Taking a deep breath, she started again, "I wanted to thank you. You didn't do a terrible job looking after her. I should have…" she trailed off again, looking away from him.

Logan put the dish he had just finished washing in the drying rack before grabbing a dish towel and turning towards her. "Veronica…" he started. His eyes told her that she didn't have to, but she continued anyway. She wanted him to know.

"No, this is important," Veronica said, cutting him off and pushing herself away from the counter before giving herself a moment, "I did come and check on you guys a few times. It wasn't because I don't trust you, I- I just couldn't stay away." Veronica paused for a moment, looking between him and the hallway, letting the moment hang, before continuing with the first excuse she could think of, "Anyway, I should go call Wallace."

He nodded, watching her as she walked away before returning to the dishes. Once finished, he checked the lock on the kitchen door and turned off the lights, heading towards the living room to read over his scripts for the morning. Apparently the events of the past few days were not an excuse to miss call time in the morning. Julia had made that abundantly clear after she had yelled at him for missing the premiere.

With a sigh he settled into the couch with the latest pages, reading over his lines yet again until it seemed that all of the words blended together. Taking that as a sign he should head to bed, he tossed the pages on the coffee table and stood. Logan made his way upstairs, turning off lights as he went, stopping briefly to check the lock on the front door and the security system before leaving the lower level. Although he had never given much thought to it before, since Linley had moved in, he ritualistically checked the locks before going up to bed.

Stretching her arms above her head after ending her call with Wallace, Veronica moved around the spare bedroom, taking in the décor. The overly cheerful paintings of flowers were giving her a headache. Who has a room that yellow, anyway?

She let out a ragged breath before digging into one of her suitcases for something to wear to bed. Realizing her limited choices in sleep attire, Veronica made a mental note to do laundry in the morning. She settled on a pair of plaid shorts and a tank top before grabbing her toothbrush and heading to the bathroom.

Veronica smiled at the distinctive features of the bathroom that were definitely her daughter: her green toothbrush, the awful fruit flavored toothpaste that for some reason she loved, the blow dryer precariously perched on the edge of the counter. She must have told her a million times about getting electrocuted if she kept that up. Rolling her eyes, Veronica picked up the blow dryer, unplugged it and wound the cord up before placing it under the sink.

With a quick check of the cabinet, she realized her toothpaste options were limited to the fruity crap Linley liked. Who liked fruity toothpaste? With a sigh, she squirted some onto her own toothbrush, adding 'get toothpaste' to her mental to-do list.

"Is that… Orange?" Logan asked, passing her in the hallway on his way to bed.

Was the scent really that strong? Veronica shot him one of her patented looks before responding, "Ask _your_ daughter. Those must be _your_ genes at play."

He held his hands up in defense, "Oh no. I use mint toothpaste like normal people, which you are welcome to use, by the way."

She smiled at the gesture, pointing her toothbrush at him, "I'll have to remember that." Pausing for a moment, she looked between her door and Logan, "Good night?" she said, more of as a question than a statement.

Logan nodded, "Good night, Veronica." He continued down the hallway towards the master bedroom as Veronica made her way back to her own room, still creeped out by the excessive use of florals.

During the night, Veronica slipped out of bed, still mostly asleep, and wandered down the once familiar hallways to the bathroom. Instead of returning to her own bed, her feet carried her in the opposite direction to the master bedroom, which her subconscious must have still considered to be her room. Pulling the sheets back on the bed, she mumbled, "Move over," to Logan before sliding in next to him and quickly falling back asleep.

When morning came, Logan felt a weight on his chest and slowly opened his eyes. Looking down, he saw a head of blonde hair and a smile spread across his face, outwardly masking the confusion in his head. How did Veronica get into his bed?

For a moment, he debated waking her, but she looked so peaceful, angelic. Thinking back the past few nights and the limited sleep she had gotten, he decided that a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. Carefully he looked over at the clock and sighed: a few more minutes would not be happening that morning. "It's time to get up," he whispered, close to her ear.

"Five more minutes," she mumbled in her sleep, gripping him a little tighter. He smiled, wondering if she was aware of her actions.

Letting out an amused laugh, he shook his head, "We don't have five more minutes," he commented, knowing Linley would be up soon to get ready for her first day back at school. Logan figured that she did not want their daughter to see them coming from the same room and then jumping to conclusions about what may or may not have happened during the night.

"Fine," she grumbled, still not opening her eyes. Veronica planted a quick kiss on his lips before rolling out of bed and shuffling out of the room, still very much asleep.

He didn't have to wait long before Veronica came rushing back into the room, closing the door quickly behind her, her eyes wide with the realization of what just happened; what she had just done.

Logan looked up at her, still sitting in the same position on the bed as she had left him, holding his fingers to his tingling lips. He saw her large blue eyes and found himself drawn to them, drawn to her, as he got off the bed and made his way over to her. Using one hand to support himself against the door and the other just under her chin, he slowly closed the distance between them, their lips meeting in a kiss with a passion they only knew with each other.

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A/N: I know, I'm a terrible person, I just left it hanging there. Haha. Well, review. Lol. I love all of you and your kind words and thoughts and passions about this story. I read every word. So, drop me a little message in the box below. Next time: The continuation of this lovely little last scene above. How does Veronica react? Tune in next time to find out!


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: I'm just going to stop apologizing for the delay because I am a terrible person and everyone should come to expect this from me by now. Of course, not that it matters much, since this is probably one of the final chapters. There might be one more and then an epilogue or I might go straight to the epilogue, I haven't decided yet. But, it has been a good run and all of you are amazing. I would especially like to thank my wonderful betas who have made this story so much better than it could have ever possibly been if I had continued alone. Okay, not winning an award here, so without further ado, chapter 25.

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Chapter 25: Pillows.

Logan's hands trailed down her body, reacquainting themselves with the feeling of her underneath of them. God, how he had missed this. He deepened the kiss, their tongues fighting for dominance. Passion, it was certainly the one thing their relationship had never lacked. Slowly, one hand started to travel under the hem of her shirt, moving up her toned stomach.

Then it was on the floor beside them. His shirt quickly joined it and it was flesh against warm flesh as he kissed down her neck, paying close attention to that one spot that made her wild. Even after all of this time, he still knew her body better than the back of his hand. Logan grinned as she moaned, feeling pleased with himself for giving her such pleasure.

Veronica pushed him away, her eyes wide as though she was shocked by her own response, "What are we doing?" she whisper-yelled at him.. "We're not together anymore, Logan. We can't just make out whenever we feel like it. It doesn't work that way," she paused for a moment, "We have a kid in the next room."

"So?" he asked, not looking away from her.

She shot him a look before opening the door a crack to peek into the hallway, "We'll talk later," she said as she slipped out, leaving Logan standing there, confused.

With a frustrated sigh, he slammed his hand against the door before moving towards the bathroom for a shower. He needed to clear his head. What was going on?

Veronica moved about the kitchen, checking the cabinets for breakfast items, frowning when she saw that most of them were bare. Typical Logan, would rather starve than shop for groceries. With a sigh she grabbed a box of Pop-Tarts.

"Mom?" Linley called from behind her, causing her to turn around as she pushed the lever on the toaster.

"Pop-Tarts in a minute, how about some juice?" Veronica asked, moving towards the fridge.

Linley took a seat at the table, "Or coffee?" she questioned hopefully.

"That stuff will stunt your growth, and I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you don't really have any height to spare," she said with a laugh, placing the glass of juice in front of her daughter before going to remove the pastries from the toaster and bringing them to the table.

Linley picked one up and took a bite before putting it back on the plate, "Actually, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind braiding my hair. Whenever I do it, it comes out lopsided," she asked, holding out a hair-tie.

"Must be from all that book learnin'… weighing down half of your brain… you need to get out there and fill the other half with useless information. I keep telling you, skip school, join a gang, meet some undesirables, but you never listen," Veronica quipped, running her fingers through her daughter's hair as she separated it into sections to braid it.

"I think I'll live with the lopsided head," Linley said, trying to reach for her Pop-Tart but was held back by her mother's hands in her hair.

Veronica shrugged as she tied off the end, "Well, when you finally fall over, I'll be waiting with the video camera."

"Ha ha," Linley said, sarcastically, finally able to reach her breakfast.

Veronica rolled her eyes in response, "Hurry up, your dad will be down any minute to take you to school."

Linley looked back towards the entrance to the kitchen before turning back to her mother, "Would you have married him? If you hadn't gotten on that plane or he had showed up at your door, would you really have done it?"

She waited a moment before turning back towards her daughter, absent-mindedly playing with a dishtowel on the counter before shoving it away and turning around. "Yeah, sweetheart, I would have. The white dress. The beach. My dad walking me down the aisle…" Veronica trailed off, the thought that she would never have that. Her father never got to walk his only daughter down the aisle. "Look at the time, I should go get dressed. Have a good day at school, Martian," she said and bent down to place a kiss on the top of her daughter's head, "I love you."

Standing up, she turned around to see Logan entering the kitchen. With a heavy sigh she brushed past him on her way to the stairs. She couldn't deal with it right now.

Logan looked between the place where Veronica blew past him and then towards Linley, hoping for some sort of explanation, "Mom said that you're driving me to school," Linley offered.

"What was that about?" he asked, gesturing behind him in the direction Veronica had run off.

Linley shifted her eyes and adjusted her crutches under her arms, "Look, I want you two to get back together as much as the next kid with split up parents, but honestly, you screwed up. And, just so you know, if you do anything, _anything_, to make her want to leave, be it this house or Neptune itself, I'm going with her. Now, I know you technically have some legal rights, and can bring me back, but it won't matter, I'll leave again, and we can keep up that cycle until you get the message or I turn eighteen." She moved past him on her way to the garage, signaling that the conversation was over.

Logan shook his head and followed her, grabbing his keys on his way out. The drive to school was silent. "Do you need help getting out?" he asked when he pulled up in front of the school.

She looked at him for the first time the entire ride, "Would it have made a difference?" she asked.

"Would helping you out make a difference? I don't know. It's kind of high…" he tried to answer.

Linley rolled her eyes at him as she adjusted her crutches, "If you knew about me, would it have made a difference?"

"Of course, if I had known you existed, I would have been on the first plane to D.C. to be with your mom and you," Logan said, a tone of desperation ringing in his voice.

She shook her head and opened the door, "That. That right there is why she's pissed at you."

"What are you talking about?" he asked quickly as a car behind him laid on the horn.

Linley shifted herself out of the SUV and turned around, "You were willing to get on a plane and fly clear across the country for me but not for her. Her, the woman who is supposedly the one true love of your life. I'd be pissed too if I wasn't a good enough reason for the guy I wanted to spend the rest of my life with to get on a plane. I probably wouldn't want to marry him anymore because it sounds a lot more like obligation than love." She paused for a moment looking towards the school, "Just… just talk to her. I have to go."

He watched her close her door and head towards the school. Just as he was about to pull away from the school, he noticed that she had forgotten something on the seat: a simple silver chain. Logan picked it up and thought about calling out to her when he noticed that attached to the chain was the engagement ring he had used to propose to Veronica sixteen years ago. He got the feeling that she didn't simply "forget" it.

Another honk from behind him stirred him from his thoughts and he put the car in gear, speeding away. Why did it come as a shock to him that his daughter, that Veronica's daughter, was one smart kid?

Logan took the long way home, giving himself time to think. Linley had made a valid point. Of course he loved Veronica. Loves her. Then why _didn't_ he go for her? Why didn't he? Because _she_ was supposed to come back to _him_.

So why didn't he go when she didn't come back? Why had he given up on her, on their love, on their happy ending, so easily? He pulled over and began pounding on the steering wheel at his own stupidity.

Logan sat for a while on the side of the road, collecting his thoughts. He watched the cars pass by, some speeding down the road with a sense of urgency, others going slower, obeying the traffic laws. His thoughts drifted between happy memories of the times their life together was so filled with promise to all the years wasted apart. Finally, he started the vehicle again, checked for traffic and drove home, deciding that he wasn't going to let another lost minute slip away.

Walking through the front door, he placed his keys in the dish and set out to find Veronica so they could talk. He went through the house, checking the living room and the kitchen before spotting her sitting in one of the patio chairs outside. He watched her for a moment, lazily browsing the internet on her laptop while she talked on the phone to someone, dressed simply in a pair of jeans and the unmistakable dark blue FBI sweatshirt that he had seen Linley wearing not long ago.

Making a little more noise than necessary, he slid open the glass door to the backyard, stepping out onto the patio and leaned against the house. He watched her relaxed demeanor shift as her back straightened and she closed her laptop. "Okay, Pete," she laughed uneasily, "Yeah, I have to go…. No, definitely, I'm sure Linley would love to see you… No…Pete, no. Don't get her anything. She's spoiled enough," Veronica sighed, "Yes, I know. Bye." She placed her phone down on top of her laptop before turning around to Logan. "Do you want to sit?" she asked him.

He nodded and took a seat in the chair opposite hers at the table. They sat there for an awkward moment, neither of them speaking. Finally, Logan took a deep breath and began, "I'll get right to the point- I still love you, Veronica, and I'm sure that you are the only one for me."

She sighed and fidgeted with her phone on the table, "It isn't that simple anymore, Logan. We can't just throw ourselves back into a relationship again like a pair of teenagers."

Logan ran a hand through his hair, "Okay, so let's be adults," he paused allowing for his hands to still, "I screwed up. I should have gotten on a plane and flown to D.C. to be with you or at least tried, Linley or no Linley. I just thought…" he trailed off, shaking his head, giving himself a moment to recollect his thoughts, "I thought that when you didn't come back, you didn't want me anymore. For a while, I was busy with Trina, and then when that failed, I was angry. I lay in bed for days. I punched things. Then I got this assistant: Destiny. She worked for me for about six years." He looked away, embarrassed at that portion of his life, memories that he had buried deep were suddenly coming to the surface.

"Was she the blonde that…" Veronica trailed off, thinking to the awards show but not really wanting the answer. Logan nodded, ashamed, thinking back to that night.

_He smiled at the cameras as he walked the red carpet, hand-in-hand with a very busty blonde until they reached the interviewer from some celebrity gossip show. "Logan Echolls," he said, shaking Logan's hand, "I was a fan of your father's."_

_Logan snorted, but before he could make a comment, Destiny was speaking, "I'm sure he would be proud to see his son walking the red carpet this evening."_

"_Jealous is a better word," Logan responded, pulling Destiny a little closer to himself, putting on a show for the cameras. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and moved away from the interviewer to check the caller._

_Destiny was right behind him, pulling the phone from his hand, "Not tonight. Not even if someone is dying. There's nothing you can do about it anyway, you're not a doctor. You only play one in the movies." She looked at the name of the caller before putting his phone into her purse, "Where do these people even get your number anyway?" she asked with a light laugh, leading him into the building._

_The entire evening, she played the supportive girlfriend role well. She clutched his arm when they announced his category, displaying her nervousness about the outcome before jumping out of her seat in excitement when his name was called. She even placed a quick kiss on his cheek before allowing him to make his way to the stage to accept his award. She, however, was not his girlfriend._

_Later that evening, she returned home with him, checking his phone as they walked in the door. Almost thirty missed calls from the same number: some bitch he had a kid with. That much she had learned from reading his e-mails and listening to his voicemails before "accidentally" deleting them.. She sighed and deleted the call log, "Babe, I'm going to call the phone company in the morning and get you a new number. You shouldn't have to deal with this," Destiny said, handing him back his phone, now completely erased of Veronica Mars. Whoever she was, baby mama or old flame,, she was not going to be a threat to their relationship if Destiny could help it._

"_How many times do I have to tell you not to call me babe?" he asked, taking his phone back a little rougher than he intended to._

_Destiny rolled her eyes and began removing her heels, "You didn't seem to mind it last night in bed," she remarked, stepping closer to him and locking lips with him._

_He pushed her away, "Oh, come on, Logan, don't act like that," she whined._

"_Don't act like what?" Logan began untying his tie in frustration._

_She put her hands over his and calmed his actions, "Let's just go to bed. We'll discuss this in the morning when you have a clear head."_

"_Julia thinks…" he began but she cut him off._

"_Julia thinks? Really? Has Julia been there for the past six years, taking care of you? Does Julia know exactly how you like your coffee? Or what shade of green brings out your eyes? Will Julia fuck you in the middle of the night when you're lonely and horny? I don't think so," Destiny began screaming, "We've been together for six years, Logan, I know what's best for you and it isn't Julia."_

_He shook his head and took a step back, "We're not together, Dest, you're my assistant, I'm your boss. I think maybe you should leave."_

"I fired her that night," Logan recounted. "It was messy, but thankfully Julia buried it and began with the rebranding. Logan Echolls: Hollywood's most eligible bachelor. That's when my career really took off. I was doing movie after movie, flying all over the place to location to film. When I was actually home, I spent all my time being Uncle Logan to Mac and Dick's little girl."

He paused for a moment, "My point is I should have made time to go to D.C. and see you. I guess… I wanted to hold on to that hope that it wasn't over. If I went there and I saw you, happy, without me, I would have known that it was really over and I've never been ready to let you go."

"It's a nice gesture, Logan, saying all of this, but it doesn't really fix anything," Veronica said, shifting her position in the chair as she pulled one leg closer to her body and wrapped her arms around it, "I should have tried harder to tell you. I was afraid that you didn't want her. I know what it's like to be rejected by a parent, and I didn't want that for her. I wanted her to know that she was always loved and cared about and important. I wanted to protect her. I didn't stop loving you, I just started loving her more."

He nodded and stood, "Do you want something to drink?" His mouth felt dry. Maybe it was the summer sun returning. Or the guilt he felt for creating this whole mess in the first place. Veronica shook her head and watched him walk inside.

Loan took a few minutes as he fumbled around with the ice dispenser in the fridge, wondering why he didn't just buy a new fridge with a working ice dispenser. Frustrated, he slammed the glass down on the counter. "You have got to stop that," Veronica's voice came from behind him.

He turned around and looked at her, then back to the glass, now cracked, on the counter. "Ice dispenser doesn't work," he offered as an explanation for his behavior.

She looked around before locking eyes with him, "There are a lot of things around here that aren't working."

"How do we fix them?" he asked, standing straighter as he took a step closer to her and away from the counter.

Veronica shrugged, "Well, the foundation seems to be solid," she started, tapping her foot on the ground a few times for emphasis, as though she was talking about the house. "But I think the walls need to come down."

He nodded, "I agree. No more walls." He took another step towards her.

"Then, slowly, we rebuild, making it better than it was before, strong against any storm, or," she looked out the kitchen window, "wave that may hit it."

Again, Logan nodded, taking another step towards her, "I like that idea." He paused, noting that they were only a few steps apart, "When do we start?"

This time, it was Veronica that stepped forward, closing the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and leaning up to kiss him. His arms went around her waist, pulling her into him, returning the kiss that she had so boldly initiated. When the need for air overcame them, she pulled back with a smile, "Looks like the heater is still functioning properly."

Suddenly the ice dispenser decided to work, spitting out ice cubes all over the kitchen floor until it had no more to give. Logan looked up from the mess when the sweet sound of Veronica's laughter filled the air. A smile spread across his face as he held her loosely in his arms. "The fridge, not so much," she added with a smile.

"Where do we start?" he asked, nervously, not wanting to ruin the moment.

She pretended to think for a moment, "I think this is the part where you ask me out on a date."

Logan smiled, "Veronica Mars, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Veronica smiled and in exaggerated motions pretended to have to think about it, "Let's stay in, instead. We could order Chinese and watch one of your cheesy movies, with Linley. Let's just be a family." Hope rang in her voice that he would be okay with it.

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "Sounds perfect."

"Let's not tell her right away. I just… I want to be sure that this is going to work," she said, locking eyes with him.

Looking into her deep blue eyes, he was reminded that he could never deny her anything, "Okay. I won't say anything, but she is a smart kid, you might not want to keep this from her for too long."

Veronica nodded and looked back to the ice on the floor, "You know, if we had a dog, he would have already started to clean this up."

"You want a dog?" he asked.

She smiled, "We'll see. Right now, we should probably pick up the ice before it ruins the floor."

Letting out a breath, he nodded in agreement, releasing her from his arms as they both bent down to pick up the cubes. It didn't last long when Veronica dropped an ice cube down the back of his shirt. Retaliating, he dropped one down the front of her sweater and watched her squirm, laughing.

By the afternoon, they had mostly given up on cleaning up the ice, both lying wet on the kitchen floor, gasping for breath from laughing so hard. Looking at her watch, Veronica shot straight up, "Someone has to go get Linley."

They looked at each other, trying to determine who was the most presentable. Finally, Veronica stood, grabbing hold of the counter for support, since the floor was now quite slippery, "I'll go. I wanted to stop by the store anyway. I'm just going to go hop in the shower."

Logan stood too, "Want some company?" he asked wiggling his eyebrows.

"Slow, Logan, slow. I have to go pick up our daughter in 20 minutes," she reminded with a laugh before heading towards the stairs.

Later that evening, the trio sat in the living room, Chinese food containers covering the coffee table, as they watched one of Logan's earliest films. Veronica set down the container with the rest before scooting closer to Logan on the couch, resting her head on his shoulder.

Taking the hint, he also put his container down before wrapping his arm around her, drawing her closer to him. Stealing a glance at Linley, who was completely focused on the movie, he looked back to Veronica, capturing her lips with his own in a quick kiss, loving that he was able to do that again. She was right; this was a great idea for date night.

"You two look comfy," Linley said, noting their position on the couch as she reached for a different container.

Veronica smiled, "Want to know a secret?" she asked and watched Linley nod, "Your dad makes the best pillow. He's not too soft or too bony, just right," she confided, causing a grin to spread across Logan's face. "Come try," Veronica continued.

Awkwardly, due to her injured leg, Linley pulled herself off the ground and made her way over to the couch, taking the spot on the other side of Logan, before resting her head on his other shoulder.

Veronica turned back to the movie with a smile. It wasn't long before she felt Logan poking her in the side, causing her to look up at him. She followed his gaze over to Linley, who was sleeping like a baby on his other side and chuckled lightly. "I did say you made an excellent pillow," she whispered.

When the movie was over, Veronica removed herself from Logan, sitting up and reaching for the remote. "Should I wake her?" he asked.

She looked to her sleeping daughter, "Only if you want to carry her up to bed."

"I don't mind," he responded, "she weighs practically nothing." It was the truth. His daughter, like Veronica, was quite tiny, and it wasn't a struggle at all to carry her up a flight of stairs to her bedroom. This time, however, Veronica was not close behind with Linley's crutches. Instead, she opted to stay downstairs, cleaning up the takeout containers and straightening the living room.

"You know," Logan said when he returned, "I do have a maid. She gets paid to clean things."

In spite of his statement, she finished gathering the trash and threw it in the bin, "Doesn't mean you can't clean up after yourself, Logan." She walked past him, up the stairs, to get ready for bed herself.

Logan shook his head and began going through the first level, checking the locks on the doors, and turning off the lights. He made sure to grab Linley's crutches before going upstairs; once he was satisfied the house was, indeed, safe.

"I believe that is mine," Logan said, finally heading into his own room, seeing Veronica brushing her teeth in his en suite bathroom, wearing one of his t-shirts.

She rinsed off her toothbrush and put it in the holder, a gesture that did not go unnoticed by Logan. He was reminded of the night before when she returned to her room with her toothbrush, something only a guest would do.

He watched her walk past him and climb into bed. "Are you coming?" she asked, patting the other side of the bed.

"Are you sure?" Logan asked, remembering their conversation about going slow.

"We're just two people sharing a bed, Logan," she said simply. Deciding not to over-think the gesture, he flipped the light switch, threw off his shirt and jeans, and slid into bed next to her. She moved closer to him, resting her head on his bare chest, her favorite pillow of all.

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A/N: So there it is. Review? Please? I love reading all of them. And. We're almost at 200! That's incredible! And all of you have made that happen. I can't tell you what happens next because honestly, I haven't written it yet and I'm still playing around with it in my head but it'll be good. After all, LoVe is involved. Thanks again you guys, and feel free to tell me all of your thoughts in the fabulous box below. Review!


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay. Life's been pretty hectic and I had a touch of writer's block. But, as promised, here is the epilogue for this story. I hope you all have enjoyed the ride. Stay tuned for my next VM story. It is currently untitled, I wish I could give you that, but I haven't decided yet. It is a darker story, so be advised, in case that isn't your style, but I really hope that you would give it a chance. Hopefully the first chapter of that will be up in a few weeks.

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"Are you sure you want to wear your hair down?" Duncan's wife, Kate, asked, standing behind her, looking in the mirror. "It would look so much more elegant up, maybe a bun with a few loose curls around your face," she suggested, casually running her fingers through the bride's hair.

Truth be told, she had never really been an elegant woman, and given the choice, she would wear jeans instead of a dress any day. Veronica shook her head, "It's fine, really. It's a beach wedding and I think that soft waves are perfect." She looked at herself in the mirror and adjusted an out of place curl, before feeling nauseous. "Excuse me," Veronica said, getting up and running to the bathroom to empty the contents of her stomach.

"It's probably just nerves," Mac said, walking towards the bathroom and knocking lightly on the door. "You okay?" she asked, looking out to the other women in the room.

Veronica stepped out of the small room, toothbrush in hand, "Yeah, it's just that smell was making me nauseous."

Linley laughed as she blew on her nails, "So, some random smell in the room makes you throw up, but you could stomach that monstrosity you had for breakfast?"

Mac and Kate shared a look before turning back to Linley. "What did she have for breakfast?" Kate asked, looking between Veronica and Linley.

"Carrot sticks dipped in chocolate syrup with bacon. Lots of bacon. And half of a grapefruit. There would have been more if I hadn't stopped her," Linley confessed, looking around, still trying to dry her nails. "What? It was weird. I had to stop her!"

Mac looked between the two of them before pushing Veronica back into the bathroom and locking the door. "Veronica…" she started, looking at her best friend.

"What? I'm getting married in a couple hours…" she reasoned, taking a seat on the toilet.

Mac took a seat on the edge of the tub, "Think about it."

Furiously, she shook her head, "I know what you're thinking and you're wrong. It's just stress from the wedding."

"Unless you're a born again virgin, it's a possibility," Mac said with a smile.

Veronica jumped up, "No, it isn't." She turned away, and sighed. "When Linley was born," Veronica started and then stopped, collecting her thoughts, "when Linley was born there were… complications. I can't have any more children."

"Does Logan know? What do you mean by complications?" Mac asked, moving closer to her friend.

Leaning against the sink, Veronica hung her head, "Of course Logan knows. He knows everything. I mean first he wasn't thrilled but we talked about it. I'm almost forty, I'll be hitting menopause in a few years anyway and then it won't matter. In the meantime, we get to have amazing sex without worrying about another…accident. Plus, we could always get a puppy." Looking up she shook her head, "No, don't be sad. I've had seventeen years to accept it. I'm one of the lucky ones. I have a kid, a beautiful daughter who I share with the love of my life. She's a great kid. What more could a girl ask for?"

"What did the doctor say?" Mac pushed, holding on to her theory.

Veronica sighed, "That there was a very large possibility that I wouldn't be able to have any more children and I should appreciate the one that I have. And I do. I love her with everything that I am."

"See! Possibility. I'll make you a deal: take a pregnancy test. If it's negative, we never speak of this again. If it's positive, you have to… name your child after me," she said with a smile, "We can send Kate to get it."

She threw her arms up in the air, "Fine, if it makes you happy, I will pee on a stick."

"That's all I ask," Mac said, leaving the bathroom to talk to Kate privately.

Veronica gave herself a moment longer in the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face while trying not to get her hopes up. It was her wedding day after all, a day to be happy and filled with excitement for the future, not sad and rueful of the past.

Finally, she joined her friends back in the main room, coming up behind her daughter and resting her chin on the top of her head, "Hey, Martian."

She smiled slightly, "After today you won't be able to call me that."

"Why not?" Veronica asked, moving to her side.

Linley shrugged, "You're marrying daddy, you'll be an Echolls."

"So? You'll always be my Martian," she said with a smile, giving her daughter a tight squeeze.

The teenager looked nervously around before reaching over and pulling something out of her bag, "Do you remember that week that grandpa stayed with us? He was only supposed to stay a few days and then it snowed so much that he had to stay?"

Veronica nodded, "Yeah, what about it?" she asked, pulling over another chair so she could sit next to her.

"There was one afternoon that you left me with him. You needed to go out for something and you were gone for hours, do you remember?" she asked, again.

Thinking about where she could have gone, Veronica nodded, "Before the storm, I went to the store. It took forever because everyone else had the same idea. Good ole' D.C., the weatherman even mentions a snowflake and everyone is in a panic," she chuckled.

"_Grandpa, when's mommy coming back?" Linley asked, looking out the window at the darkening sky._

_Keith glanced out too, "Soon. Why don't you come sit with me and I'll tell you a story."_

_Linley nodded and left the window in favor of a seat on the couch, "Is it a story about mom? Please tell me you have good dirt on her. I bet she wasn't as perfect as she claims she was."_

_Keith laughed, "Veronica? No, she never got into trouble. Ever. Perfect daughter." He paused for a moment while Linley frowned, "No, the story I want to tell you is about these earrings," he said, pulling a small box from his jacket pocket. "These were my mother's. She was an artist, did you know that?" he asked, handing her the box._

_She looked between him and the box before shaking her head, "No. What kind of artist?"_

"_Painter. She loved to paint. She used to say it was her mission to spread color to the world. These earrings were no exception. She wore them every day. They brought out the bright blue in her eyes, the same blue of your eyes and your mom's eyes. I was saving them for her, for her wedding day, but…" he was cut off by the front door opening._

_The pair looked over to the door and watched Veronica walk in, juggling several grocery bags. Keith quickly stood to help her, grabbing a few of the bags and placing them on the counter, never finishing their conversation._

Linley handed over the small box, "I never got to hear the rest of the story about great-grandma, but I'm pretty sure grandpa would want you to wear these today."

Confused and a little shocked, Veronica took the small box from her daughter's outstretched hand, "How didn't I know about this?" she asked, as she lifted the lid.

She shrugged, "I don't know, but I was hoping that maybe they could be your something old."

"What were you going to do with them if I never got married?" Veronica asked, removing the earrings she was currently wearing and setting them carefully on the table.

Again, Linley shrugged, "Wear them to my own wedding?"

The conversation was abruptly ended when Kate returned with a brown paper bag from the drug store. "Hey, sorry, I need to borrow her," Mac said, butting in and stealing Veronica away and back to the bathroom.

At the Casablancas residence across the street, a completely different scene unfolded where Logan and his groomsmen were preparing for the big day.

Spread across the coffee table was an assortment of empty beer cans and snacks. On the couch, Dick and Logan fought each other, through video games, to the death, with the other guys cheering behind them. When Logan won the match-up, he threw the controller down and stood, chugging a soda and grinning wildly. He knew Veronica would definitely not approve of a drunken groom on her wedding day, so his drink of choice was rum and coke, minus the rum.

"So, where are you guys going on your honeymoon," Duncan asked, watching Logan crush the soda can in his hand.

Logan shrugged, "We haven't decided yet. Veronica wants to wait until school starts again to go away. I get it. It's Linley's last summer at home and she feels bad leaving her." He passed the controller off to someone else who ready to take on Dick in the game so he could continue talking to Duncan.

Duncan shook his head and smiled, "You're lucky. A few more months and you'll have the house to yourselves. Whatever you do, don't get her pregnant. Kate's been feeling a little empty nested lately and if you guys have another baby, it will only make it worse."

Logan laughed and patted his hand on Duncan's shoulder, "It'll be okay, D, just another year and your little girl will be going off to college. Maybe you should start convincing Kate what she really wants is grandbabies."

"You realize that my son is dating your daughter, right? Your about to start college daughter? Your _teenage _daughter?" Duncan reminded, "If I become a grandparent, so do you."

He shook his head, trying to un-hear the words, "I meant Lilly," he corrected, putting the crushed can down on the counter.

"You know," Duncan said, turning thoughful for a moment, "I never thought that it would be you. I always thought that somehow, Veronica and I would find our way back together. I was sure that we were destined to be together. Even after I left the country with another woman's baby, I thought that one day, I would get her back."

Logan shot him a look, "You're married to Kate, remember."

Duncan nodded and took a step away from the rest of the guys, "Yeah, because of Veronica. She came to me and I knew it was over," Duncan began and then paused, looking around."It was a long time ago. I guess when you guys were still in college. I called her, asked her to come spend a few days with me. I was going to try to win her back, convince her to move in with me after she graduated, be a family. The way she talked about you, her eyes lit up in this way that I had never seen before and I knew. It was for the best though, because a few weeks later I met Kate and it finally made sense. We were never meant to be: I was meant to be with Kate and she was meant to be with you. So, congrats, man," he said and walked off.

"Well, what's it say?" Mac asked as Veronica walked out of the bathroom. Her eyes were focused on the small stick of plastic in front of her, horrified.

She blinked once, then twice, before opening her mouth, "Positive. It says positive. That isn't possible." Picking up the box, she compared the images again and then thrust the box at her best friend, "They must be defective. Here, take the other one. When you get a positive, we'll know that they're broken."

Mac gave her a quizzical look but took the box and stepped into the bathroom anyway. In a few minutes, she rejoined the group. "What's it say?" Veronica insisted, still holding her own for comparison.

"It's takes a few minutes. What is this going to solve anyway?" Mac asked, waving it a bit like a Polaroid.

Veronica looked to the box again, checking to see if hers had magically become negative, "That they're defective. They always say positive."

"Couldn't you just run it under water then?" Mac questioned, taking the box back from Veronica to look at her results. "Positive. It can't be."

Veronica and Mac shared a look before running out the door. They needed to get to the drug store and fast. Three matching positive pregnancy tests later, they were tired of peeing on sticks and pressed for time. "I guess you were right. I'm pregnant. I mean four different brands of pregnancy tests can't all be wrong. Pregnant," Veronica repeated, sitting against the wall in the drug store bathroom next to her best friend.

"Me too," Mac said in a matching tone. The whole situation was surreal. "We were not planning for any more kids. We just got through diapers and daycare. We have three already," Mac thought out loud.

Veronica put her hand over Mac's, "I've been living for the past seventeen years thinking that I couldn't have children. Mine is going to college. We were going to have the house to ourselves, travel, get a puppy. I win." Sharing a laugh, they helped each other off of the floor, collecting their trash to dump in the bin on the way out.

"At least this time, we're in it together," Mac pointed out with a smile, "If I buy you a blue slurpee, will it count as your something blue?" Veronica nodded as they headed over to the machine, both grabbing the largest cup available and filling it to the brim with the cold, blue pseudo-liquid.

Logan paced the room, attempting to tie his tie for the third time and failing miserably. Tie tying was never one of his strong suits. In fact, he avoided wearing one whenever possible. Who needed them, anyway? Frustrated, he pulled it off of his neck when he heard a knock on the door, "Come in." He threw the tie on the chair and looked up to see who knocked.

"Hi, Daddy," Linley nervously walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

He smiled softly, all of his frustrations caused by the tie leaving his body as he looked at his daughter, "You look beautiful, sweetheart."

She gave him a quick twirl in her bridesmaid's dress before speaking, "So, not to alarm you, but mom and Aunt Mac kind of lost their minds and ran away somewhere. I'm sure that they'll be back soon, but I wanted to give you one last out before you married a crazy person."

"Wait, what? Where did she go?" Logan asked, suddenly getting nervous. "What happened?"

Linley shrugged, taking a seat on the chair, "I don't know. She was kind of arguing with Aunt Mac all morning and then they both freaked out and left. I was doing my nails. The point is, she is certifiably insane and I would completely understand if you didn't want to do this. I mean, I'm stuck with her forever, but there is still time to save yourself."

Logan laughed at the situation, unsure why it was funny. Perhaps it was because deep down, he knew she was right. Veronica was a bit crazy with her methods. And he knew she loved him. For the first time since he dated her so many years ago, he knew, not thought, _knew_ for a fact that she loved him. So he laughed and trusted her with his heart that she wouldn't leave him standing alone at the altar. "I think I'll take my chances," he said, looking around the room, before spotting his jacket hanging near the mirror.

He walked over to it and reached into the pocket, "Would you mind giving this to her when she comes back? I meant to have Dick deliver it earlier but we kind of got distracted here and uh…" he trailed off, holding out the small, black box.

Linley eyed him suspiciously before taking it from him. She could tell by the shape that it wasn't a ring, but definitely some sort of jewelry. "Go ahead and open it, I know you want to," he smiled, walking back to find his tie.

As soon as the words left his mouth, small hands were over the box, grasping the lid and opening it to reveal a necklace. It was simple in design, silver, and had an oddly shaped piece of plastic encased in platinum attached as a charm. "What is it?" Linley asked, referring to the plastic.

"A piece from the headlight of her first car that I might have smashed with a baseball bat," he responded, innocently.

Her eyes grew wide as she shut the box, "You took a baseball bat to mom's headlights?"

"Boys show they care differently than girls," he smiled, "and she started it."

Linley threw her arms up in frustration and let out a loud sigh, "Well, that proves it. I give up. You _both _are crazy and deserve each other. I'm going to go and see if mom is back yet."

She turned and walked out of the room just as he was about to ask her about his tie. Maybe it would just become a tie-less event. It was a beach wedding, after all. Again he flung it to the side and sunk into the chair.

Linley walked back across the street to her own house, where the women were getting ready, and smiled, noticing that Mac's car was again parked out front. She quickly rushed to the house, as fast as she could in heels without messing up her nails and up the stairs, "Mom!" she called out, reaching the end of the hallway.

"Martian?" Veronica responded, trying to get her dress on while still clutching the blue slurpee. Kate stood next to her, trying to remove the drink from her hand in an attempt to keep the white dress… white.

Linley walked into the room and handed her mother the box, "It's from dad. Think of it as your something new… and I see that you have found your something blue," she said, her eyes going to the slurpee.

Veronica nodded, releasing the drink to Kate in favor of the box. "So, why did you guys leave?" Linley pressed as she watched her mom open the gift.

Veronica set the box aside for a moment and gestured for Linley to come closer before bending down to whisper in her ear, "I'm pregnant!"

Linley stepped back and looked at her mother, her jaw slack, "Are you serious? I'm finally getting my baby brother?"

"Well… I don't know if it's a boy yet… but you're getting something," Veronica confirmed.

Smiling, Linley threw her arms around her mother in a tight, quick hug before stepping back, "We'll talk later. Right now you need to put your dress on… and dad's gift and you still need to borrow something from someone. You know what, I have just the thing," she said, running off to her room, "And brush your teeth, your tongue is blue."

Shuffling through the assortment of jewelry and cosmetics on her dresser, she searched for the item that her mind immediately went to. She thought about the need to organize the mess but brushed it off with the thought that she would have to pack it all up to move to college anyway. Finally seeing the small object, Linley grabbed it and ran back to the other room.

Veronica stood in the full length mirror, smoothing her dress before putting on the one of a kind necklace from Logan. The fact that he had kept such a souvenir was evidence that deep down, he'd never really hated her, it had always been love. She smiled at the memory, fighting had clearly been foreplay, and this was a reminder at just how far they had come. She was stirred from her thoughts when Linley appeared behind her, a small object in her hand.

"It's a hair clip. Uncle Wallace bought it for me when I was staying with him in New York last year. I just figured that you might want to borrow it. I mean, you have grandpa and great grandma in your earrings and daddy in your necklace and Aunt Mac made your tongue blue, now you need something from me and Uncle Wallace," Linley explained, holding it out to her mother. "It's too bad he couldn't make it today," she added sadly.

Veronica smiled at her daughter's thoughtfulness, "Why don't you put it in my hair," she suggested, bending down a little to allow her daughter a better angle to put it in her hair. Linley smiled and secured the clip in her mother's hair before stepping back to see how it looked.

"Perfect," Linley announced before looking at Veronica's feet, "Shoes?"

They shared a smile before Kate brought over the flats that Veronica would be wearing. While she would have preferred something with a heel to come closer to Logan's height, it would be nearly impossible to walk on the beach in them.

The time quickly came when everyone filed out of the house and down to the beach where their guests were already seated. Standing beside Logan at the altar was Dick, his best man, and Duncan and Daniel.

Veronica took a breath as she watched her bridesmaids walk down the aisle ahead of her. "You okay, V?" Weevil asked, stepping in next to her with a smile, "I can get you out of here if you changed your mind."

She shook her head, "No, I'm fine. Thanks Weevil, for doing this."

"Of course," he said and held out his arm. Veronica took it as the wedding march began to play. With a deep breath and a smile, she allowed Weevil to walk her down the aisle.

While all eyes turned to Veronica, her eyes were fixed on Logan: the one true love of her life. The father of her child—children. The one who had taken her heart without asking for permission and never letting it go.

When they reached the end of the aisle, Veronica turned to Weevil with a smile, gave him a quick hug and a light kiss on the cheek and joined Logan at the altar. Logan's smile stretched across his face as he stepped closer to her and gave her a quizzical look.

Leaning over, not as inconspicuously as he imagined, he whispered into her ear, "You look beautiful, even with a blue tongue."

"Something blue?" Veronica offered, smiling back.

Leo smiled back at the happy couple, honored to be officiating their wedding, and began the ceremony, "We are gathered here today in the celebration of the love of these two people, a love that has surpassed every imaginable obstacle and has only come out stronger. I remember when I first met Veronica and Logan, and let me tell you, I had quite the crush on the former sheriff's daughter and she broke my heart for none other than this man standing before you today," he paused as the crowd let out a laugh. "It is my pleasure to join these two very deserving people in the bond of holy matrimony."

Logan took a deep breath and took Veronica's hands into his own, "I first met you when we were twelve years old. I had just moved to Neptune and was wandering around when I came across this park, and in this park was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. That night I went home and I told my mom that I had met the girl that I was going to marry. She laughed of course, and told me to go finish my homework, but I never forgot. From that day, I have loved you, and I promise that I will continue to love you all the days of my life."

Removing her hand from his to wipe away a few tears that had fallen at his words, she let out a light laugh and an embarrassed smile before beginning her own words. "Many years ago, you told me that you thought our story was epic, spanning years and continents, lives ruined and bloodshed. I didn't believe you then. I didn't think that love should be that difficult. Thinking back to all of the years that I have spent loving you, the distance that has separated us and all of the things that have tried to stop us from making it to this day, this moment, they have only made my love for you stronger. I love you, Logan, and I want to be your wife for the rest of my life."

"Can we have the rings?" Leo asked as Veronica turned to Mac and Logan turned to Dick. "Logan, do you take Veronica to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health to love and to cherish, from this day forward for as long as you both shall live?"

Logan took Veronica's small hand into his own and put the ring on her finger, never losing eye contact, "I do."

"And do you Veronica," Leo continued, turning to look at her, "take Logan to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish from this day forward for as long as you both shall live?"

Pausing to wipe the tears from her eyes again, she took the ring from Mac and slipped it onto Logan's finger, looking down briefly to make sure she had the right one before lifting her eyes to meet his, "I do."

Leo grinned and looked up at the group gathered before him, "Then by the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Logan stepped forward and took Veronica in his arms, brushing a few fallen strands of hair out of her face before connecting his lips with hers for the first time as her husband. He could hear the small group who had gathered for their wedding cheer as he deepened the kiss. He wanted it to be their most memorable, though he was unsure if anything could top their first kiss as such in his mind. Finally they had to break apart for air, both grinning.

It didn't take long for the crowd to cross the short distance to the tent set up nearby on the beach for the reception. Once the happy couple was sure that all of their guests were seated and ready, they made the way together, hand in hand.

"I have the great pleasure of announcing to the public for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Logan Echolls!" Mac said into the microphone as the happy couple joined all of their guests at their reception.

They took to the floor as the song began for their first dance as a married couple, "I love you," Logan said, looking down at Veronica in his arms, catching the slight glimmer of light off their wedding bands.

"I love you, too," she responded, leaning up to capture his lips in a light kiss. He spun her around a few more times as the song continued, enjoying every moment.

When the song ended, they took their seats at the head table, ready to begin dinner, holding hands under the table. The night could not get any more perfect.

"As the best man," Dick began his speech at their reception later that evening, "I was asked to say a few things about the happy couple. The thing is, I was first asked to do this seventeen years ago, when they were engaged the first time," he reached into the pocket inside of his suit jacket and pulled out an old, folded, piece of paper and began smoothing it out, "To Logan," he read, "my best friend. While I may not have always liked Ronnie, I can see that she brings out the beast in you—wait, best. It says best guys. She brings out the best in you," Dick continued, holding the sheet a little further from his face and squinting at it, "I…" he paused and rotated the paper, "Okay, so maybe I should have written a new speech. The point is, Logan, I have been your best friend for a long time and I have never seen anyone who makes you as happy as she does, so congratulations man. And to Veronica, I am so glad that you chose my wife to be your maid of honor because—"

Veronica cut him off, not wanting to hear where the rest of that sentence was going, "Thank you Dick for your… approval of my bridal party. Who's next?" she asked, taking her seat.

"Uh, me?" Wallace asked, stepping in from the back. "I, uh, don't have much to say about love, seeing as how I just got served my divorce papers this morning, but I have known Veronica and Logan forever, and I always thought that if they could make it work, then maybe there is a little bit of hope for the rest of us. Congratulations, you guys."

Veronica ran from her seat at the head table and threw her arms around her other best friend, seeing him for the first time in person in years. "You're back?" she asked, holding on to him for just a second longer than necessary.

"Yeah, supafly, I'm back," he said with a smile as Logan gestured for the DJ to play some music.

Logan stood and walked over to Linley, "May I have this dance?" he asked, holding his hand out. With a smile, she nodded, placing her smaller hand in his as he led her out on to the dance floor. With the addition of a few more couples, the dance floor became an impromptu daddy-daughter dance, with Wallace filling in this time for Veronica's father, whom she was sure was watching from heaven.

After everyone returned to their seats, the speeches went on. Logan glanced over at his bride, noticing that she wasn't drinking. "Something wrong with the champagne?" he whispered, leaning over to her, "I know it isn't a blue slurpee but…"

She shrugged, "I'm not drinking tonight."

He raised an eyebrow, "Is something wrong?"

Veronica let out a breath and looked into his eyes, grabbing one of his hands to hold in hers for support, "I'm pregnant."

Logan's eyes went wide and suddenly the scene around them disappeared, "Really?"

"I took four tests, Logan. All positive. I know this isn't what we planned," she started but he cut her off, planting a kiss on her lips.

"This is better than what we planned," Logan reassured her, "I don't ever want you to feel like you can't tell me something, okay? I know I didn't exactly get the message last time, but right now, I can't imagine my life without you and Linley in it and this baby will only make things better. I promise."

Veronica smiled and kissed him again, "I think it's time to cut the cake."

Together they walked off, hand in hand, goofy grins plastered across their faces to go and cut their wedding cake.

This was only the beginning of the rest of their happily ever after.

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A/N: Well folks, that's all. This story has come to a close. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write a review, you guys are the greatest. Thanks again to my beta, who worked endlessly to fix my many many mistakes. Final reviews would be much appreciated and hopefully I will see you all in a few weeks for my next story. Peace and love.


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